Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi decided to delay the reshuffling of his Cabinet on Thursday due to the unfolding nuclear crisis in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, although most of his picks were to be appointed today.
The prime minister canceled the Cabinet reshuffle in the evening, after a critical accident at a uranium processing facility in Tokai caused the evacuation of 150 people from the immediate vicinity amid a self-sustained nuclear reaction.
The Obuchi administration had appeared ready to unveil its second Cabinet before the worsening accident reports slowly filed in. "I believe Obuchi will exercise strong leadership to start the new government," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said earlier in the day.