海水注入問題 原発に政局持ち込むな

まるで子供のけんかみたいだった。
谷垣総裁の執拗で陰湿な質問にはうんざりさせられた。
こんなときに。
（スラチャイ記）

(Mainichi Japan) May 24, 2011
LDP should not use nuclear crisis for political maneuvering
社説：海水注入問題　原発に政局持ち込むな

The stern manner in which the largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) criticized the government in a recent Diet session for its response to the meltdown at the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant suggests that the party is using the crisis for its political maneuvering.
LDP President Sadakazu Tanigaki brought up the issue during a House of Representatives special committee meeting on earthquake recovery held on May 23. He pointed out that the injection of seawater into the plant's crippled No. 1 reactor -- which started on the evening of March 12 in a desperate bid to cool down its core -- was suspended for 55 minutes.
　炉心溶融を起こした福島第１原発１号機で３月１２日夜、炉心冷却のため始めた海水注入が５５分間中断した問題が、２３日の衆院東日本大震災復興特別委員会で取り上げられた。

The opposition leader then cited news reports that the injection was suspended at the instruction of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and worsened the situation.
Kan categorically denied the reports saying he never gave such an instruction because he had not received any report on the seawater injection in the first place. Tanigaki pointed out that his statements and other government officials' remarks on the matter were inconsistent and held the prime minister responsible for the confusion within his administration.
　中断は菅直人首相の指示によるもので、このことが事態の悪化を招いた、と報道されたことに対し、菅首相は、注水を始めたという報告を聞いておらず、指示することはありえない、と答えた。これに対し自民党の谷垣禎一総裁は、政府側の答弁の矛盾をつき首相の責任を追及した。

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) began injecting seawater into the reactor at 7:04 p.m. on March 12 -- the day after the Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit the power station, but suspended it 25 minutes later before resuming it at 8:20 p.m., TEPCO records clearly show. However, Kan, leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), and Tanigaki failed to clarify through their debate why the seawater injection was suspended.
　東電の記録では、海水注入を開始したのは１２日午後７時４分だったが、その後同２５分に注水を中断、５５分後の午後８時２０分に再開したことははっきりしている。問題は、注入がなぜ中断されたかだが、この日の質疑で議論は深まらなかった。

This is a good opportunity for the LDP to grill the prime minister over the government's poor response to the crisis in a bid to throw the administration into disarray. If the LDP were to prove the injection was suspended at the instruction of the prime minister, it could hold him responsible for both giving such an instruction and making a false statement on the matter. It is all the more a good opportunity because the government was already confused over the matter: It once announced that Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSC) Chairman Haruki Madarame had warned of the possibility of the reactor having "recriticality" -- a recurrence of nuclear fission reactions -- if seawater were to be injected, but later corrected the announcement.
　確かに、自民党にとってみれば、問題を追及することにより政府部内の足並みの乱れを誘発できるし、仮に「首相指示」を立証できればその指示責任と虚偽答弁を同時に問える、という格好の材料であろう。早速、この問題に関連し、内閣府原子力安全委員会の班目（まだらめ）春樹委員長の「再臨界」発言をめぐり政府自ら前言を訂正する、というゴタゴタが起きた後だけにである。

Still, the discussions between the leaders of the two major parties have raised two questions.
　ただ、論戦を聞いて、二つの疑問を持った。

The first question is how far the 55-minute suspension of the seawater injection contributed to the worsening of the reactor's condition.
まずは、海水注入中断問題の位置付けである。

It is widely believed that most of the fuel in the No. 1 reactor had melted by the morning of March 12 -- long before the seawater injection began.
すでに１号機については地震発生翌日の３月１２日朝の段階で燃料の大半が溶融したとの推測が一般的になっている。

その日夜に海水注入が５５分間中断したことが、事態の深刻化にとってどの程度本質的なものだったのか。


The other question is how far such a debate will adversely affect Japan's national interests. Discussions on the matter are feared to damage the international community's confidence in the announcement of the cause of the nuclear crisis and specific measures to bring the crippled plant under control, which Kan will make during the upcoming G8 summit.
　もう一つは、菅首相が日本を代表する形で、サミットの場で世界に対し今回の原発事故の原因、今後の対策をまさに発表しようとする矢先に、その信頼性をいたずらに失わせるような議論をすることが、日本の国益上いかがなものかという点だ。

Needless to say, it is of great importance to clarify the cause of the nuclear crisis that has worsened to the current state.
　もちろん、福島原発がここまでの状態に至った原因究明は極めて重要である。

To that end, the government should set up an independent third-party fact-finding panel at an early date for the sake of not only Japan but also the world.
真の原因と正確な経過の究明については、日本のみならず世界のためにも、政府から独立した第三者的事故検証委員会を早急に発足させるべきである。

TEPCO officials should be asked to testify over why it suspended the injection of seawater into the plant's No. 1 reactor in a bid to confirm what actually was behind the decision.
海水注入問題については、ぜひ東電側の証言を求めてほしい。言いっぱなしではない事実確定をすべきだろう。

It is inevitable for the LDP, as an opposition party, to employ a strategy of pointing out the government's poor handling of the nuclear crisis while looking for the right time to submit a no-confidence motion against the Kan Cabinet to the powerful House of Representatives.
　自民党が内閣不信任決議案を出すタイミングをはかりながら、菅政権の原発対応のまずさを突いていくのは、野党としてはやむをえない戦略であろう。

Still, members of the LDP, which had been in government for nearly half a century and is now aspiring to take over the reins of government from the DPJ, would be better served to discuss how they would respond to the current nuclear crisis and what they would do if the party takes over the reins of government.
しかし、かつて半世紀近く政権を担った大与党として、かつ倒閣後の与党に名乗りを上げる野党第１党としては、自分たちであればどうしたのか、今後どうするのか、という議論の方を深めてほしい。

毎日新聞　2011年5月24日　2時31分