A Tokyo Electric Power Co. executive created a stir Friday by stating that he doesn't believe the radioactive water leaks at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are under control — contradicting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's bold assertions in Tokyo's Olympics presentation in Buenos Aires.
During the Tokyo bid team's appeal for the 2020 Games on Sept. 7, Abe assured the International Olympic Committee that "the situation is under control" and "the effects from the contaminated water have been perfectly blocked within the (artificial) bay" of the wrecked nuclear complex.
At a meeting Friday in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, however, Kazuhiko Yamashita, Tepco's top technology executive, reportedly told Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers that he "does not believe (Tepco) is able to control" the situation.