A senior official of the operator of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Sep. 13, 2013 disputed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s assertion to International Olympic Committee members that the Fukushima crisis is under control, which helped Tokyo land the 2020 Summer Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe regard the current situation as not being under control,\u201d Kazuhiko Yamashita, an executive officer of Tokyo Electric Power Co., told a meeting in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. The meeting was held by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan\u2019s task force on radioactive water issues.<\/p>\n
The comment contradicts the well-publicized assurance that Abe gave at an IOC general meeting in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7, before Tokyo was selected as the host city for the 2020 Olyimpic Games.<\/p>\n
“Let me assure you the situation is under control,” Abe told the IOC.<\/p>\n
Hironori Nakanishi, director-general for Energy and Technological Policy at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, attended the meeting in Koriyama on Sept. 13 and promised he will make his best efforts to resolve the Fukushima nuclear crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom now on, we will work hard to control the situation,\u201d Nakanishi said.<\/p>\n