PM facing pressure to resign as nuclear plant crisis worsens

Published on Thursday 14 April 2011 15:55

Japan's fragile post-disaster political truce unravelled yesterday as the head of the main opposition called on prime minister Naoto Kan to quit over his handling of the crises.

At the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in the north-east of the country, engineers were struggling to find a new way to cool one of six crippled reactors and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it was now "highly likely" there was a hole in the suppression unit of the reactor.

Mr Kan - on 30 per cent in the polls - had sought a grand coalition to help the country recover from its worst natural disaster and enact bills to pay for the biggest reconstruction project since the Second World War.

His Democratic Party controls parliament's lower house but needs opposition help to pass bills as it lacks a majority in the upper chamber. But the head of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - who last week ruled out coalition - yesterday increased the pressure on Mr Kan.

"The time has come for (the prime minister] to decide whether he stays or goes," said Sadakazu Tanigaki.

His comment reflects the view of many in his conservative party that Mr Kan must step down as a precondition for any coalition as well as a hope that criticism of Mr Kan within his own Democratic Party will gather steam after party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa attacked his crisis management.

Upper House speaker Takeo Nishioka, a Kan critic and Democrat, also urged Mr Kan to resign.

Mr Kan, however, who last June took office as Japan's fifth leader since 2006, is not likely to step down readily, while opposition parties could come under fire if they try to take disaster budgets hostage.

"Kan will probably ignore this," said Koichi Nakano, a Sophia University professor. "If they thought of the national interests, would they (Kan's critics] do this now?"

Five weeks ago a massive earthquake and tsunami left nearly 28,000 dead or missing, devastated a broad swathe of north-east Japan and damaged the Fukushima plant. The nuclear safety agency said a new plan for cooling one of six reactors at the plant, 140 miles north-east of Tokyo, may be needed due to the large volume of highly radioactive water on site, and tests would be done to determine if damaged spent fuel rods were emitting radiation.

"It may be difficult to completely remove the contaminated water and so allow work to proceed (in restoring power to the cooling pumps]. We may need to think of other options," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a deputy director-general of the Nuclear Industry and Safety Authority. He said there was 20,000 tonnes of contaminated water in the basement and a tunnel under reactor number two.

"It is highly likely that there is a hole on the (unit's] suppression chamber after as an explosion was heard. It would be an accurate speculation that there is leakage." Engineers are also concerned that some spent fuel rods were damaged by the earthquake and tsunami and could be emitting high levels of radiation.

EMPEROR VISIT

Japan's emperor made his first visit yesterday to the disaster zone devastated by an earthquake and tsunami, kneeling on mats to commiserate with survivors who bowed in gratitude.

Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko visited two evacuation shelters in Asahi city. Asahi, about 50 miles east of Tokyo near the Pacific coast, is one of the southernmost areas to be heavily affected by the 11 March disasters, which killed up to 26,000 and sparked a radiation crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

One evacuee with Down's syndrome, who has trouble speaking, conveyed his thoughts to the royal couple on paper. "I will keep striving," he wrote in a small notebook that he showed to the emperor and empress.