Tokyo Riot Squad to Safeguard Tepco Meeting
Japan’s National Police Agency will send 150 officers and riot squads to Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s annual general meeting this month to quell possible protests by shareholders and terror attacks, a police official said.
About 7,000 shareholders are expected to attend the June 28 meeting, said the official, who declined to be identified, citing the agency’s policy. Residents from Fukushima, where Tokyo Electric’s crippled nuclear plant lies, may stage demonstrations, the official said. Officers and riot police will be stationed around the Prince Park Tower Tokyo Hotel, the venue for the shareholder meeting, the official said.
Tokyo Electric’s stock has slumped 91 percent, erasing 3.2 trillion yen ($40 billion) in market value, since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The disaster at the Fukushima nuclear station displaced 50,000 households in the evacuation zone because of radiation leaks into the air, soil and sea.
“It’s going to be a stormy meeting,” said Tomoko Murakami, a nuclear researcher at the Institute of Energy Economics in Tokyo. “The meeting will likely continue for hours and hours as individual investors will have a lot to say.”
The utility known as Tepco had about 747,000 registered shareholders as of March 31. Usually about 4,000 of them turn up for the annual meeting, said company spokesman Takeo Iwamoto. He declined to comment on security for this year’s event.
The Atago Police Station near the hotel normally sends about five officers to shareholder meetings, the police official said.
Safety Precautions
“We’ve been discussing with Tepco and police authorities about safety precautions at the event,” said Atsushi Mori, an official in charge of marketing at the Prince Park Tower. “We will pay full attention to prevent any trouble.”
According to documents sent to its shareholders today, Tepco said 402 shareholders will propose a motion to ask the company to decommission its existing nuclear plants and promise it won’t build new atomic stations. The company plans to disagree with the proposal, the documents said.
“In the long run, it’s better to have nuclear power,” Murakami said. “The shareholders must realize that they shouldn’t be too emotional.”
Tepco’s share price fell 1 percent to 190 yen at the 11 a.m. break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
To contact the reporters on this story: Takahiko Hyuga in Tokyo at thyuga@bloomberg.net; Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net; Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net
Police to Send 150 Officers, Riot Squads to Tepco Meeting
Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Farmers from Fukushima prefecture protest outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co. headquarters in Tokyo on April 26, 2011.
Farmers from Fukushima prefecture protest outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co. headquarters in Tokyo on April 26, 2011. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Penn Bowers, an analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo, talks about the outlook for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Tokyo Electric, operator of the nuclear plant crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, rebounded from yesterday’s record 28 percent plunge, after the government said it didn’t support a breakup of the utility. Bowers speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Dan Fukutomi, managing director for corporate and government ratings at Standard & Poor's in Japan, talks about the outlook for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a liquidation of the company must be avoided. Fukutomi speaks from Tokyo with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
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