Press Release (May 14,2014) Remarks of TEPCO President Naomi Hirose Upon Ambassador Caroline Kennedy's Visit to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

May 14, 2014
Naomi Hirose
President
Tokyo Electric Power Company

Today, we were honored to have Her Excellency Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, join us to visit the decommissioning operation at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, and we were gratified to hear her warm words of support.

Meeting the Ambassador and hearing her words of encouragement means a great deal to our employees and cooperative workers, who are working hard and making progress in what, as Ambassador Kennedy noted, is a "daunting task."

We are also gratified that, after her visit, the Ambassador released an official statement saying that, "The United States Government will offer our experience and capabilities to support the Japanese Government and TEPCO, particularly in the near term toward the resolution of ongoing water contamination issues."

This represents a continuation of the important assistance the U.S. government has provided since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Support and cooperation from overseas, especially from the United States, is indispensable for addressing the challenging issues of decommissioning and in providing a secure energy future for Japan, and we greatly appreciate it.

With that support, and the knowledge gained from our domestic and other international partners, we will continue the decommissioning operation safely and diligently.

I want to express my personal appreciation, as well as that of TEPCO, to Ambassador Kennedy for the time she took and the interest she showed in her visit to Fukushima, and to the people of the United States for their generosity and continuing support.

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy Statement on Visit to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (PDF 38.1KB)

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