Angry shareholders lashed out at Tokyo Electric Power Co. on June 28, demanding a retreat from nuclear power and the chairman's resignation over the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Angry shareholders lashed out at Tokyo Electric Power Co. on June 28, demanding a retreat from nuclear power and the chairman's resignation over the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
But at the end of the TEPCO shareholders' meeting, attended by a record number of people, motions to cease operations and decommission reactors were voted down, and Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata retained his post.
Three other electric utilities had similar experiences at their shareholders' meetings, with questions raised about nuclear safety but with the status quo remaining largely intact.
Anti-nuclear groups rallied around the Tokyo hotel where TEPCO's meeting was held, foreshadowing the complaints that would be heard inside.
Although the meeting was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., shareholders were still registering to enter at that time. As of 3:30 p.m., 9,302 shareholders had shown up, far exceeding the previous high of 3,342 who attended last year's TEPCO meeting.
TEPCO had arranged about 1,600 more seats than usual for a total of about 5,600 seats.
Many could not enter the room where TEPCO management was seated and were forced to use separate rooms with video monitors displaying the meeting.
"I express my deepest apology for the large number of problems we imposed on many people in society through the nuclear accident and rolling blackouts due to a shortage of electricity," Katsumata said at the start of the meeting.
The bad news continued. TEPCO told shareholders it posted a net loss of 1.2473 trillion yen ($15.2 billion), the largest ever, and that dividends would not be paid this year.
About 20 minutes into the meeting, a no-confidence motion was submitted against Katsumata as part of his overall management responsibility for the nuclear accident caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The motion, however, was voted down.
"There are some people who are calling for a new slate (of management), but rather than resign, I want to fulfill my responsibility by effectively rehabilitating the company," the chairman said.
When the meeting was opened to questions from the floor, shareholders vented their concerns, frustrations and anger over the nuclear accident and the safety of TEPCO's nuclear plants.
"This accident was not caused by an unusual natural disaster, but was a human disaster," one shareholder said.
Another shareholder demanded answers. "In a past meeting, I proposed the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 plant, but it was defeated. How do you intend to assume responsibility for that?"
One man, who said he had been attending TEPCO shareholders' meetings for about 20 years and had called for a move away from nuclear energy, said: "I have to apologize (to other shareholders) for what has unfolded after my past proposals were not taken into consideration (by management). But there are some among management who do not feel as though they have to assume responsibility."
Other questions raised by shareholders covered the wide range of issues facing TEPCO, including: reducing corporate pensions; having executives return their remuneration; making provisional compensation payments; halting the spread of radioactive materials; processing water contaminated with radiation that has accumulated at the Fukushima plant; and addressing the public's dissatisfaction at the measures taken to prepare for tsunami.
Shareholders were not satisfied with the responses by management, so many follow-up questions were asked, extending the meeting to well beyond the three hours and 42 minutes of the 1999 meeting that had been the longest to date. The meeting lasted for six hours and nine minutes.
Three proposals were voted on at the meeting, including one about the selection of 17 TEPCO executives, including Toshio Nishizawa as the new president.
A proposal submitted by 402 shareholders called on TEPCO management to stop operations and decommission nuclear reactors starting with the oldest ones and not to construct new ones.
However, the proposal failed to gain the approval of the required two-thirds of shareholders in attendance.
Chubu Electric Power Co. also saw a record number of shareholders at its meeting on June 28.
By 11 a.m., 2,688 shareholders had shown up, far exceeding the previous high of 1,725 in 2006.
Regarding the company's acquiescence to Prime Minister Naoto Kan's request to shut down all reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, President Akihisa Mizuno said: "We decided that in the long term the decision would be in the interests of shareholders. We will make every effort to resume operations as soon as possible."
Six proposals were submitted to the Chubu Electric meeting that directly or indirectly called on management to move away from nuclear energy.
However, the company presented its opinion that nuclear energy was indispensable for a stable supply of electricity and as a measure to deal with global warming.
Chubu Electric's many institutional investors defeated all of those proposals.
A record high 1,272 shareholders also showed up by 11 a.m. for Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s meeting.
Seventy shareholders submitted a proposal asking Kyushu Electric to decommission the Genkai nuclear plant in Saga Prefecture and the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture and not build any new nuclear plants.
Those proposals were also defeated.
One shareholder asked about the resumption of operations at the Genkai No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, which had stopped operations for periodic inspections.
"After the natural disasters, with eastern Japan facing an electricity shortage and with companies shifting manufacturing functions from the Tohoku region to western Japan, there will be a need to resume operations to prevent a slowdown in the Japanese economy," a company official said.
On June 29, Tohoku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and Chugoku Electric Power Co. will hold their shareholders' meetings. Shareholders have submitted proposals for all three meetings urging management to move away from nuclear energy.