TEPCO president apologizes to residents

The president of the operator of the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture has offered apologies to local residents.

Tokyo Electric Power Company President Masataka Shimizu visited a shelter in Koriyama City on Friday, where he met more than 1,600 evacuees. They have been forced to leave their towns to avoid high radioactivity caused by the accident at the company's plant. It was Shimizu's first meeting with evacuees since the emergency began at the plant more than one month ago. He spoke to one evacuee after another for about 2 hours.

One man said all production at his farm has stopped.
He said he has not been told whether he will be compensated and that he cannot get a sense of the company's sincerity.

The president later told reporters that trust between the company and local residents has completely broken down. But he said he hopes to rebuild it however long it takes.

Earlier in the day, Shimizu met Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato for the first time since the accident.

The president offered his apologies for the accident and pledged all-out efforts to resolve the trouble.

The governor pointed out that nearly 6,000 children from Fukushima have had to leave the prefecture and urged the president to contain the ongoing disaster as soon as possible.

Sato also said that a restart for the power plant is inconceivable.

Friday, April 22, 2011 19:45 +0900 (JST)

NHK World