Prime Minister Naoto Kan rejected suggestions that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, might be able to avoid paying compensation for the nuclear disaster because of a legal immunity.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan rejected suggestions that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, might be able to avoid paying compensation for the nuclear disaster because of a legal immunity.
Speaking at a session of the Lower House Budget Committee April 29, Kan said: "It is wrong to think TEPCO is exempt from liability for the damage and that the government alone is liable."
The law governing compensation for nuclear accidents contains a provision exempting plant operators from liability for damages of accidents caused by "an extremely large-scale act of god."
"Applying the provision automatically to the current case would mean granting TEPCO immunity from responsibility," Kan said.
He added: "The company is principally responsible for the damage."
The law on compensation for nuclear accidents imposes unlimited liability on the operators of nuclear power plants for accidents at their facilities, but the controversial small print exempts utilities from liability for damage caused by "an extremely large-scale act of god or social convulsion."
TEPCO, parts of the banking industry and some business organizations have suggested that the Great East Japan Earthquake may meet the criteria for the exemption.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda said the provision only applies to accidents caused by "a super force majeure, a situation totally beyond imagination, or something not anticipated by mankind."
He said the March 11 earthquake and tsunami did not fit that description.
TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu, who attended the Budget Committee session as an unsworn witness, pledged to act swiftly on the compensation issue. He said his company will have to pay compensation to many people and promised to "deal with the matter in a fair and swift manner, while receiving support from the government."
TEPCO is expected to pay compensation in line with guidelines announced April 28 by a review committee of the science ministry.
But Kan said the government should also be held accountable for the nuclear disaster: "The government has been promoting nuclear power generation as a national policy and cannot escape from the responsibility."
Kan said a key role for the government would be to prevent delays in payments.
"The government intends to assume responsibility for making sure the payments (of compensation) are made appropriately, including from a political and administrative point of view," he said.
The Kan administration is considering establishing a new public-private agency to ensure smooth payment of damages estimated to total several trillion yen.
The administration plans to announce details of the scheme in May, after the Golden Week holidays.
In a break with normal protocol, the Budget Committee met on a national holiday (April 29) in an effort to speed up the enactment of a supplementary budget to fund post-quake reconstruction. It was the first time a Lower House Budget Committee had been convened on a national holiday since February 1995, when the committee discussed measures to deal with the aftermath of the Great Hanshin Earthquake.