Japan's new PM visits crisis-hit Fukushima
Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Thursday visited Fukushima for the first time since he took office a week ago, paying tribute to hundreds of workers battling to contain the nuclear crisis. Noda told some 200 workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, that "without the rebirth of Fukushima, there will not be a rebirth of Japan." "An end to the accident is what our country and the world is hoping for," said the premier, who was clad in white protective gear, according to local media. "You hold the key to the solution to the problem," he told the workers, many of whom have spent nearly six months struggling to stabilise the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Noda, who was sworn in on Friday, made his comments in the operations room of the plant, which has been leaking radiation since the March disaster, then viewed the exterior of some of the damaged reactor buildings. In a meeting later with Fukushima governor Yuhei Sato at his office, some 60 kilometres (38 miles) to the west, Noda apologised for the nuclear crisis, according to media. He also promised to secure sufficient funds for reconstruction of the region -- including money to decontaminate areas affected by radioactive leaks. Earlier in the day, Noda visited a sports complex, built by the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., which has become a makeshift base camp accommodating hundreds of emergency workers. "Since the accident occurred, you all have worked on the front line for the Japanese people. I express my heartfelt gratitude," Noda said as he bowed to hundreds of workers. He also praised troops dispatched to the area, saying they had worked "tirelessly" for the benefit of Japan. "I feel proud from the bottom of my heart as the commander-in-chief of the Self Defence Forces," he said. Noda came to power on Friday, replacing Naoto Kan who stepped down amid criticism over his handling of the aftermath of the triple disaster -- a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, a tsunami and nuclear accident. The towering wall of water battered cooling systems at the Fukushima plant, 220 kilometres (138 miles) northeast of Tokyo, triggering reactor meltdowns and the spewing of radiation into the environment. The government has said some areas close to the plant may be uninhabitable for years due to dangerous contamination, amid an erosion of public faith in how forthcoming officials have been about the consequences of the disaster. Tens of thousands of people within a 20 kilometre radius and in some pockets beyond the plant have been evacuated, but many activists and scientists have called for a wider exclusion zone. Japan is struggling to bring the crippled reactors to a state of cold shutdown by a January target. Noda also plans to drive around the no-go zone and observe local residents' decontamination work in Date city, just outside of the evacuation zone.
