Japan’s government is reportedly ready to consider nationalising the operator of the crippled power plant at the centre of the worst nuclear accident in the country’s history.
News that the state could take a majority stake in the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) came after nuclear safety officials confirmed traces of plutonium had been found in soil in five locations in the Fukushima Daiichi atomic complex.
The prime minister, Naoto Kan, fought off criticism of his handling of the crisis, insisting to MPs that a state of “maximum alert” would be maintained until the power plant had been made safe.
Doubts over the future of Tepco, the largest power company in Asia, has coincided with mounting criticism of its handling of the world’s worst nuclear emergency since Chernobyl.
Much of the criticism is being directed at Tepco’s president, Masataka Shimizu, who has not been seen in public for several days. Tepco officials said Shimizu, 66, had been absent for a few days last week due to a “minor illness”, but claimed he had resumed work directing emergency operations at the company’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Shimizu hasn’t appeared before the media since 13 March; for six days from 16 March, as his employees battled to prevent stricken reactors from going into full meltdown, he reportedly did not attend crisis meetings or visit Tepco’s HQ.
On 15 March Shimizu was on the receiving end of an outburst from Kan, who said the firm had been too slow to inform him of an explosion at the plant. Reporters overheard Kan demanding of Shimizu and other Tepco executives: “What the hell is going on?”
In addition, Shimizu’s firm has been accused of delaying the use of seawater to cool overheating reactors at Fukushima because of the damage it might cause. The government has since said the plant will be decommissioned.
On Sunday, the firm offered wildly inaccurate readings of radiation levels inside the No 2 reactor building, for which it later apologised. Last week it emerged that two workers exposed to high levels of radiation were standing in puddles of contaminated water wearing only ankle boots.
Shimizu, an enthusiastic cost cutter, was praised for restoring Tepco to profitability after it sustained heavy losses in a 2007 earthquake. But recent reports said that under Shimizu, Tepco failed to make mandatory safety checks and sought to extend the operational life of old reactors.
Tepco’s shares have lost about 70% of their value – or $30bn (£19bn) – since the 11 March earthquake and tsunami, and the cost of insuring its debts against default are 10 times higher than they were before the crisis.
The government’s chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, denied newspaper reports that nationalisation was among the options under consideration.
“It is my understanding that the government is not considering it,” he said. “The government will be directing Tepco to do everything possible to resolve the situation and help the people who are affected.”
But the national strategy minister, Koichiro Gemba, said it could not be ruled out. “There will naturally be various debates about Tokyo Electric’s future,” Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying.
Several members of the government reportedly believe the state should temporarily take control of the company to enable it to compensate businesses and households affected by radiation leaks, and to repair its damaged nuclear reactors.
Hajime Motojuku, a Tepco spokesman, said he was unaware of any plans for nationalisation. “Our first and biggest priority at this moment is to prevent the nuclear power plant accident from worsening further,” he said.
Tsunami and quake damage has forced a significant drop in Tepco’s capacity to generate electricity, resulting in rolling power cuts that could last into the summer.
Tepco is reportedly in talks with several banks over emergency loans worth a potential ¥2tn (£15bn), a move that surprised some analysts given its large cash reserves. Financial statements show that at the end of last year, Tepco held cash and similar assets worth ¥432bn, and ¥7.5tn in outstanding debt.
Kan, meanwhile, faced accusations that his visit to Fukushima Daiichi the day after the tsunami had held up initial attempts to vent damaged reactors to relieve pressure inside them.
Kan denied that his visit on the morning of 12 March had worsened the situation. “It was necessary for me to go there to understand what was going on,” he said. “It was helpful in making decisions later on, and it’s not true that my visit caused a delay in the procedure.”
Yosuke Isozaki, an opposition Liberal Democrat MP, said Kan should have ordered people living within a 20-30km (12-19-mile) radius of the plant to evacuate. The 130,000 people living in the area have so far been told to remain indoors. “Is there anything as irresponsible as this?” Isozaki said.
Nuclear safety officials said the plutonium traces announced on Monday were not hazardous to health, but the discovery lends weight to fears that dangerously radioactive water is leaking from damaged nuclear fuel rods.
“The situation is very grave,” Edano said. “We are doing our utmost to contain the damage.”
If inhaled, plutonium, a byproduct of uranium fission, can linger in internal organs and bones and cause cancer. It is also an ingredient in mixed oxide (MOX) fuel used in the plant’s No 3 reactor, but officials have yet to determine whether that is the source of the leak.
Japan’s government is reportedly ready to consider nationalising the operator of the crippled power plant at the centre of the worst nuclear accident in the country’s history.
