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2012 January 6 - 10 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

TEPCO executives involved in NPP exports

A TEPCO executive, who had denied the possibility of a massive tsunami and had rejected appropriate counter-tsunami measures at the utility’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), was a board member of an NPP exporting company until recently.

Muto Sakae is the TEPCO executive who had asserted that a massive tsunami “would never come” to Fukushima. He was sitting on the board of International Nuclear Energy Development of Japan Co., Ltd. (JINED), established in December 2010 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry with TEPCO, Chubu Electric Power Company, and Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., and reactor manufacturers Toshiba Corporation, Hitachi Ltd., and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the purpose of exporting NPPs abroad. Muto is now back at TEPCO as advisor.

An investigation report on the Fukushima nuclear accident states that TEPCO in 2008 predicted a tsunami of up to 15.7 meters in height near the Fukushima plant (in fact, the tsunami that hit the plant after the 3.11 earthquake was 13.1m), and that a TEPCO official in charge explained to Muto that to implement tsunami resistant measures would take four years in addition to tens of billions of yen.

According to the investigation report, Muto in response said, “That is a hypothetical calculation. Such a tsunami will not occur,” and prevented TEPCO from taking precautions.

TEPCO fellow executive Takekuro Ichiro confirmed Muto’s assertion and decided to not prepare for tsunamis. Takekuro is now representative director of the forenamed exporter JINED.

Late last September, JINED signed a memorandum with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) regarding cooperation on a Vietnamese project to construct an NPP in Ninh Thuan in Vietnam.

The Fukushima nuclear crisis is still ongoing and it should be unallowable for Japan to export NPPs to other countries.