Memories from the Abyss

This chapter presents Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's recollections about the week immediately following the Great East Japan earthquake. Topics discussed include the response team meeting at the Emergency Disaster Response Headquarters; the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness; the declaration of a nuclear emergency; whether the state has authority over TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; the responsibilities of the Nuclear Safety Commission and Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency; TEPCO's inability to resolve problems on their own; the evacuation of residents with within a three-kilometer [1.9 mile] radius of the nuclear power plant; and Kan's decision to address the Japanese people a day and a half after the earthquake.

Taking Action before Stepping Down

This chapter presents Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's recollections about the actions he took before his resignation. In particular, he explains the circumstances behind his gradual move away from the use of nuclear power. He says that his experience of the nuclear accident that began to unfold on March 11, 2011, made him realize that a nuclear accident carried with it a risk so large that it could lead to the collapse of a country. He became convinced that what they had been calling “safe nuclear power” could only be found through independence from nuclear power. He also describes the passage of a bill to promote renewable energy and the shutdown of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant.