President Endo speaks at the 4th Fukushima Daiichi International Forum

On August 4th, the 4th International Forum on the Decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was held at Manabi no Mori in Tomioka Town, and I participated as a panelist in the afternoon panel discussion. There were 12 speakers, including myself. We were divided into three groups: one consisting of three local resident representatives, including myself; the second consisting of four representatives from four high schools in Fukushima Prefecture (Futaba Mirai, Asaka High School, Aizu Gakuho, and Iwaki Ryokuin); and the third consisting of five experts and business representatives (METI, NDF, TEPCO Decommissioning Company, Argonne National Laboratory (USA), and the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority). For approximately two and a half hours, we discussed four themes (1) waste, 2) labor force, 3) the future, and 4) consensus building, each from our own perspective. I believe we were able to exchange very valuable opinions. I was reminded that we are entering an even more important stage for the future of this region. The contents of this discussion were also featured on page three of this morning's Fukushima Minpo newspaper.