TEPCO president apologizes to Fukushima fishermen

This is what happens when you don't think ahead. Get out there people, march on your city make a statement, make the government act NOW before it's too late. Shigateganai is not working very well.

"apologies to Fukushima fishermen who fear their livelihoods are being put at risk by contamination of the ocean, pledging every possible measure to avoid an impact on their catch."

The problem is not the catch, it's the sell. People in Japan are skeptical of buying fish from Tohoku and people around the globe are skeptical of buying fish from Japan!!

He can make his apologies AFTER it's cleaned up and things are back to normal.

Until that is done, anything he says is just air coming out of his mouth.

If these Tepco people spent half as much time making empty promises and crafting meaningless apologies and actually DID something that would be a step in the right direction.

I am not a trained engineer or scientist, but even I know that, for example if you hastily build hundreds of tanks and fill them with some of the most environmentally poison elements known to humankind, its probably worth having a team that is constantly checking those tanks are sealed and in good condition.

I mean company president, how long does it take to say, "I have heard there is the possibility of leaks in some of these tanks, from tomorrow I want a team of 30 people whose job it is to check these tanks for water leakage"

"I have heard that the cooling system and power supply is intermittent, I want at least 2 backup systems, which take into consideration the possibility of another large quake on every critical system NOW"

What a terrible, no not terrible, disgusting state of affairs that 5 or 6 years ago someone didn't say.

"Oh there is a report that this plant is susceptible to a large earth quake and a following tsunami... lets do something about it."

Its the constant day one, mistakes that I can't fathom, the accident itself is difficult and it could be true that no-one has a perfect plan to minimise the damage but this company seems to be determined to make it worse.

An apology is not a news story - reporting on it only gives the apology unwarranted weight.

Sorry doesnt fix the problems, instead of saying sorry clean up the mess and help these people get their homes back, THAT would be a proper apology

An apology from TEPCO is like being told the electic rates in Japan will be lowered by 50%.

'Sorrimasen' is the standard, delayed response to any crisis here, however monitoring and coordinating information on an already well-known problem will not solve anything. People in Tohoku, Japan and the rest of the world want to see some concrete (?!) action!

I suggest harakiri

The damage, PR wise, has already been done. Many people don't even want to eat seafood from Fukushima nor any of the prefectures surrounding Fukushima.

Forget about overseas sales. Most people outside Japan have no idea where or how far any of the other non-contaminated prefectures are in relation to Fukushima.

Tepco and the government have already blown it and no apology is really going to help. They need an international takeover of this nuclear power plant immediately.

Apology not accepted. Contaminated fisheries extend further out than Fukushima you imbecile. How about all the farms in the area too? What about all the schools and businesses? Liquidate the whole prefecture and get everyone out. It's Chernobyl all over again. What part of nuclear disaster do people not get?

“We are not in a situation at all that marine resources are showing radioactivity,”

BS! They are, and have been since the disaster, showing increased signs of radioactivity, especially around the plant. Now whether it's at levels that are harmful to humans or not is debatable. Quite the tone change from some articles yesterday, though, where Hirose vowed that no harm will come to Fukushima fisheries.

As another commenter put it, it's not really the catch, but the sell. I for one, and many other people I'm sure, will not be intentionally buying any seafood from Fukushima fisheries. Good on the fishers for telling it like it is to Hirose, but sadly nothing will be done save that in a few weeks TEPCO will admit harm is being done, and apologize, then nothing will be done, etc.

Ah good an apology, so thing can continue as normal

We are not in a situation at all that marine resources are showing radioactivity

BARE-FACED LIES

Here comes the apologies. That makes everything ok, doesn't it? Yet, he still won't openly admit the 300 tons of leaked water went into the sea. Of course, not all of it went into the sea. A lot of it soaked into the ground to be washed into the sea later when it rains and some of it evaporated going into the atmosphere to be dispersed as rain somewhere else. I get so sick of TEPCO and the j-gov downplaying the severity of this disaster.

The ''sincere'' apologies will change anything in their lives? Get back any loss?

The fishermen are probably telling Hitose to kiss their bloody maguro's tail.

Apologies mean next to nothing. BLOODY DO SOMETHING about this catastrophe instead of talking, old fart.

Notice that saying he is sorry, has no affect on the problem and does not move them any closer to a solution.

When they start moving the fuel and get it wrong and it all goes off in a big explosion, telling the rest of the world he is sorry will likewise have no affect on the problem or the suffering it will cause. Does anyone have any illusions that anyone in this company, from the top down knows a damn thing about what they are doing Does anyone doubt the same of the government officials?

Now if the accident happens when the winds are heading towards Tokyo, how will he saying he is sorry do anything for the millions of new victims? The only good thing is it will take the officials and the politicians as well.

NZ2011Aug. 30, 2013 - 08:01AM JST

I am not a trained engineer or scientist, but even I know that, for example if you hastily build hundreds of tanks and fill them with some of the most environmentally poison elements known to humankind, its probably worth having a team that is constantly checking those tanks are sealed and in good condition.

If you have the manpower. TEPCO has been having problems retaining staff because of the salary cuts mandated by the rules of Japanese society.

I mean company president, how long does it take to say, "I have heard there is the possibility of leaks in some of these tanks, from tomorrow I want a team of 30 people whose job it is to check these tanks for water leakage"

And the response from the person recieving the order would be: what job should I take these people away from to check the tanks? Do you want them to slow down removing fuel from Spent Fuel pool 4?

"I have heard that the cooling system and power supply is intermittent, I want at least 2 backup systems, which take into consideration the possibility of another large quake on every critical system NOW"

"NOW"? New design work would take up weeks, if not months. Besides, there are backup cooling systems with diesel generator power supplies:

"There is a backup cooling system but no backup outside power. TEPCO has backup cooling systems with separate power sources for reactor cooling, but fuel storage pools only have emergency diesel generators as a backup. TEPCO said it will consider installing backup outside power for the pools"

http://seattletimes.com/avantgo/2020587217.html

What a terrible, no not terrible, disgusting state of affairs that 5 or 6 years ago someone didn't say.

"Oh there is a report that this plant is susceptible to a large earth quake and a following tsunami... lets do something about it."

Hindsight is great. The report was for the Sendai Plain, based on a historical tsunami in 869AD. TEPCO found no evidence of a large tsunami along the coast the plant is situated on. Funnily enough no one warned Sendai, I wonder why? Maybe the scientists concerned were unsure of their evidence?

Tepco management need to show the World how safe the seafood is by including it in their lunches and dinners on a daily basis...

Crisis management! Having a plan B. back up systems. Spend more now save latter! Government to be more active NOW? And who would put their name on this, cleaning up TEPCOS mess.i fear more clueless management. More apologies then a mass exodus of the Government ward in Tokyo.

Star-Viking - Good post mate! All you have done is confirmed just how inadequate TEPCOs clean up operation is. This is the world's worst nuclear disaster and it is only getting worse. Yet, they are employing underpaid and unskilled temp staff to handle the operation. Does anybody else see the idiocy in this? And, the J-Gov has just stood idly by and watched this total SNAFU unfold with no input what-so-ever. Now, we have TEPCO boss apologizing to the fishermen and Abe telling the world his government is going to get more actively involved. It is all lip service BS to conceal how bad the situation is and little idea they have of controlling it. The government should be sending a couple of hundred JSDF members and every nuclear physicist and engineer in the country to Fukushima to get this bloody mess sorted out ASAP! And, they should send the bill to TEPCO. What is happening up there is criminal and it is not just a localized crime. It is a crime against all humanity. They have 1,300 fuel rods that have to be removed one at a time and one mistake could cause the rod/s to go critical and the outcome would make the Hiroshima bombing look like a fart in a bath!

Why has no one contacted anyone that worked on the Chernobyl accident to get insight on how to deal with radiation treatment? I would figure, how they handled their accident, would help in understanding the clean up & disposal process.

And what's really no surprise is that the rest of the world, DIRECTLY in the path of tons & tons of nuclear irradiated water is doing nothing?

The government should be sending a couple of hundred JSDF members and every nuclear physicist and engineer in the country to Fukushima

Exactly, I imagin that with 50 (now showen to be excessive) N-plants shut down (relative term) there are experienced educated people who could view the situation with urgency and perhaps creativity. Give them tax free status and free medical. Just get them involved. It does appear that TEPCO staff are more loyal to their company rather then their families or country. How could they allow the Emperor and wife visit the area knowing it was contaminated? This loyalty to TEPCO or it's CASH seems to be the staffs, managements priority. Workers are forced to sign confidentiality contracts, but I have seen foreign news sources interview many. They all knew from the start about the leaks.

Nuclear Regulation Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka told reporters his watchdog would begin to coordinate the fragmented information on marine pollution. “We are not in a situation at all that marine resources are showing radioactivity,” he said.

.... and there go any lingering doubts that I might have had that the new "watchdog" Nuclear Regulation Authority is nothing more than a new "lapdog" for TEPCO.

We've had data for at least a year showing increasing levels of radioactivity in the sea around Fukushima Daiichi, and in fish caught in that area.

Well, at least Japan is generous... its going to share the results of its nuclear screw-up with every Asian country and the West coast of America...

Apology NOT accepted! His apology at this late juncture is worth less than the breath he spoke it with!

They can apologize. They can hung on their position. They can earn huge amount of money without taking any punishment.

Stuff from the Tsunami coming on shore in Hawaii. Native fishermen are noticing strange " happenings" with the Ahi that are being caught locally. We have gone out to buy a geiger counter as now no one will eat fish from Japan... or even any big fish from the Pacific. I feel sorry for pregnant women who dont know what to eat.

Can't find it in food with a counter I am afraid, different process needed. Unless its on the verge of glow in the dark.

The fishermen should give the TEPCO CEO's some nice shashimi from the bay and let them eat it on camera.

Tepco are all lip service, everyone knows already the truth, Tepco have not actually even admitted radioactive water has enter the ocean they always word they press releases "may have"... They sugar coat everything and continue to play wack a mole with problems rather than implementing a solution.

more talk and no action..please it has been two years, it is time to stop talking and do something!!! Honestly I would never have expected that a country as advanced as Japan would show up to be unable to cope with this. This is not only damaging people's health and ecosystems, but the entire planet and if that doesn't click- it is damaging your own mother country most. Fish, water, veggies they all end up in the people's stomachs eventually "shouganai" IS NOT the way to go! It is time for everyone to face reality. Tepco should give up and over. Two years is too long to START tackling the problem even, please trust nuclear energy to a company that shows trust and knows how to do something. Maybe my southern European blood boils too easily, but how do people/how can people rest at night thinking of the damage that has happened? I'd be suspecting everything that goes into my stomach by this point in time

TEPCO president apologizes to Fukushima fishermen

He should apologize to the whole world for poisong the global commons-the sea. The waters around Japan do not only circulate around Japan. They circulate the whole world. The other day, Fukushima sandals were found in Alaska!!!

In the United States, there is no mention of radiation in the Pacific from Fukushima. Its only broadcast on radio, FM. All governments are attempting to shut down information on contamination in the Pacific. Could you imagine if they said, "All fish caught in the Pacific pose a danger of cancer and birth defects." Bye Bye sushi. Its a bummer, I used to eat a lot of Japanese food, I am Japanese.

Did he go there in the limo, wearing the Italian suit and the rolex, or was he told to leave them at home?

When is he going to apologize to Korean fishermen? That stuff has been scheduled to wash up in Korean shores by early next year. And if Japan fails to stop the flow, it will continue to wash up and literally make all living things in the sea, unfit for consumer consumption. I don't think Japan will be able to get away with the excuse, "that's covered in the 1965 treaty" this time. Does anybody know the legalities of all countries affected by Fukushima, suing Japan?

Wow. We must have a lot of marine biology experts here. The problem isn't localized. Fish such as Pacific Bluefin can swim across the Pacific. Cesium radionuclide has already crossed the Pacific.

Japan needs international help to stop the meltdown. The longer it takes, the more the world will become polluted. Lot's of people are going to die of cancer in the next couple decades.

But Japanese are eating fishes from Tohoku in restaurant and a like.

The best apology will be that followed by decommissioning of all old reactors. While japan is planning to restart its old, poorly managed reactors, USA has decommissioned 3 reactors within the lest 6 months! http://www.worldnuclearreport.org/Another-US-Reactor-Scheduled-for.html

This is whole debacle is so sad, as if an earthquake and tsunami weren't enough, we now have to deal with this manmade problem of incompetence.

Honestly I would never have expected that a country as advanced as Japan would show up to be unable to cope with this.

Well, now you know. Do you think this is the first time incompetence showed its ugly mug in this nation? The trick is to put a lid on it, Japanese style. Unfortunately for TEPCO, this time the problem is bigger than what they can handle, both from a disaster point of view but also from a medial one. They seem to have no real clear strategy, no great spokesperson, no openness. Instead, they dumbfoundedly hand out pressers a week after everything is out in the open, not to mention deny first, then bow their pathetic, fake apologetic bows later. Despicable.

Just like Dennis Bauer said above, the Fukushima fishermen should bring a day's catch to the bigshots in TEPCO HQ in Tokyo, ring the bell and say: "Hey boys. We bring Sashimi!" Bring some ballsy TV stations along (if there are any) and see what they say.

When is he going to apologize to Korean fishermen?

Chuck, you're missing the point.

TEPCO president apologizes to Fukushima fishermen

Wonderful. "He apologized". So what? Perhaps, tons of contaminated water automatically became clean?