Some 50 utility workers posed as citizens to back atomic power on TV
Jul. 11, 2011
About 50 Kyushu Electric Power Co. employees and affiliates were involved in attempting to orchestrate an e-mail campaign, posing as ordinary citizens, in support of the restart of its nuclear reactors on a government-sponsored TV program, according to an internal investigation by the utility.
The staged e-mails account for about a fifth of all supportive opinions received in the program aired in late June, according to sources informed about the investigation. The number of those involved may increase as the investigation is still ongoing.
At a special committee on nuclear safety of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly Monday, Akira Nakamura, then head of the utility's nuclear power control department, said he was told by a supervisor to enliven discussions on the program, aimed at winning support for restarting two reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture.
Both Kagoshima and Saga are serviced by Kyushu Electric.
He thus instructed a subordinate to make the program known among other employees and affiliates. But while Nakamura neglected to follow up on the matter, the subordinate went ahead and asked others to post the comments.
The subordinate sent e-mails to three Kyushu Electric offices and four subsidiaries, according to the utility.
Sources at Kyushu Electric said the supervisor involved was then Executive Vice President Mamoru Dangami, who retired from the post in late June.
In his first appearance in front of reporters since the scandal came to light, Dangami admitted to having issued the instruction to let employees know about the program. ''Responsibility rests with me,'' he said.
Nakamura had denied the existence of the e-mails when questioned by the committee on July 4, just two days before Kyushu Electric acknowledged the scandal in public. He told the assembly Monday he had not been aware of the issue back then.
The scandal, brought to light by an in-house whistle-blower, has dealt a fresh blow to the credibility of the nuclear industry in Japan, four months after the nation's worst nuclear plant crisis occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The resumption of the reactors at the Genkai plant, now put on hold after the government abruptly announced new safety assessment measures, would have been Japan's first since the March crisis.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 11, 2011)
The staged e-mails account for about a fifth of all supportive opinions received in the program aired in late June, according to sources informed about the investigation. The number of those involved may increase as the investigation is still ongoing.
At a special committee on nuclear safety of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly Monday, Akira Nakamura, then head of the utility's nuclear power control department, said he was told by a supervisor to enliven discussions on the program, aimed at winning support for restarting two reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture.
Both Kagoshima and Saga are serviced by Kyushu Electric.
He thus instructed a subordinate to make the program known among other employees and affiliates. But while Nakamura neglected to follow up on the matter, the subordinate went ahead and asked others to post the comments.
The subordinate sent e-mails to three Kyushu Electric offices and four subsidiaries, according to the utility.
Sources at Kyushu Electric said the supervisor involved was then Executive Vice President Mamoru Dangami, who retired from the post in late June.
In his first appearance in front of reporters since the scandal came to light, Dangami admitted to having issued the instruction to let employees know about the program. ''Responsibility rests with me,'' he said.
Nakamura had denied the existence of the e-mails when questioned by the committee on July 4, just two days before Kyushu Electric acknowledged the scandal in public. He told the assembly Monday he had not been aware of the issue back then.
The scandal, brought to light by an in-house whistle-blower, has dealt a fresh blow to the credibility of the nuclear industry in Japan, four months after the nation's worst nuclear plant crisis occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The resumption of the reactors at the Genkai plant, now put on hold after the government abruptly announced new safety assessment measures, would have been Japan's first since the March crisis.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on July 11, 2011)
