Koizumi: Abe’s Fukushima ‘under control’ pledge was a lie

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's promise that the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant was "under control" in his successful pitch three years ago for Tokyo to host the 2020 Olympic Games "was a lie," former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Wednesday.

Koizumi, one of Japan's most popular leaders during his 2001-2006 term, became an outspoken critic of nuclear energy after a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Abe gave the assurances about safety at the Fukushima plant in his September 2013 speech to the International Olympic Committee to allay concerns about awarding the Games to Tokyo. The comment met with considerable criticism at the time.

"Mr. Abe's 'under control' remark, that was a lie," Koizumi, now 74 and his unruly mane of hair turned white, told a news conference where he repeated his opposition to nuclear power.

"It is not under control," Koizumi added, citing as an example TEPCO's widely questioned efforts to build the world's biggest "ice wall" to keep groundwater from flowing into the basements of the damaged reactors and getting contaminated.

more...
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201609070073.html