Abe visits TEPCO Fukushima N-Plant

April 15, 2019

Okuma, Fukushima Pref.--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s <9501> Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant for the first time since September 2013.

During the visit on Sunday, he wore no protective gear to inspect the stricken plant, which straddles the Fukushima Prefecture towns of Okuma and Futaba.

Decommission work is under way at the plant after the meltdown accident triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Speaking to reporters, Abe said he will visit Fukushima again to see the start of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay in the prefecture in March 2020.

"We hope Reconstruction Olympics and Paralympics will shine all over the world," he said. Japan aims to make the sports events a symbol of reconstruction from the disasters.

Prior to this, he attended an opening ceremony for a new Okuma government building in the Ogawara district, where an evacuation order introduced due to the nuclear accident was lifted Wednesday.

"Passion of local people has borne fruits, and the office is back. This is a new start," Abe said.

Also on Sunday, Abe visited the J-Village national soccer training center in Fukushima to interact with junior soccer players.

This was the prime minister's 41st visit to an area hit by the March 2011 disasters.

During his trip, he did not mention Yoshitaka Sakurada, who resigned as Olympics and Paralympics minister due to his gaffe over the reconstruction. Jiji Press