Stakeholder #1

Every event or controversy has stakeholders. Stakeholders are the people who are tied to the controversy in someway, whether it be for gain or loss. In the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear meltdown, Tokyo Electric Power Company was a stakeholder.

TEPCO, "TEPCO Logo", Registered Trademark 2015

1. Can you describe this stakeholder in 200-250 words? If they're an individual, vividly describe how they look, what they wear, how they move. Tell us how they sound, how they talk, what their mannerisms are. Conjure them in our mind's eye, by appealing to at least THREE of our FIVE senses. If the stakeholder is an insitution or group, then describe the institution and how it appears in the world. How do people encounter this group or institution, digitally or physically? Describe their website or headquarters or something else that physically represents the group to the world at large.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is the biggest stakeholder in this controversy. TEPCO is the owner and manager of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant that failed. TEPCO is also the main provider of electricity for Tokyo and some of its surrounding towns. In the 2014 Fiscal Year, the company sold 257,000 GWh of electricity and made over 6.8 trillion Yen (roughly $58 billion). The meltdown wasn't its first problem with their nuclear reactors. In 2007, another one of its nuclear power plants was forced to shut down due to an earthquake compromising the plant's structural integrity for 2 years. When the Fukushima-Daiichi meltdown occurred Japan decided to take control of the company for a ten year period. Their website is very professional and mainly focuses on their efforts to fix the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster. Their website has links to corporate information and their customer service web page seems to be very consumer friendly. It seems as though they are concentrating very hard on recovering from the Fukushima-Daiichi failure. There are links to compensation for nuclear related damages on their homepage and news reports on their progress in cleaning up and decommissioning the power plant. They are mainly encountered through service workers and through their website.

2. Can you identify THREE specific claims being made by this stakeholder? The claims should be public and about the specific story you're investigating. Provide direct quotes for three different claims or ideas made in public by this stakeholder. Each quote should be clearly hyperlinked to the original source.
"Although TEPCO believed that the nuclear power plant safeguards put in place were sufficient per this standard, we deeply regret the accident that occurred on March 11th." -Source

"The Fukushima Revitalization Headquarters has now been established and this area is now our new home. We are here for the long haul. We intend to move forward one step at a time until we build a positive record of accumulated achievements that will inevitably lead to the full restoration of this area and overturn the present feelings of bitterness into an optimism that can look towards the future with hope." -Source

"From here on out, we will do our very best to apply the lessons learned from the tragic events that unfolded on that fateful day and make every effort to ensure the utmost in preparedness should another large-scale natural disaster occur." -Source

3. Can you explain how valid these claims are? Objectively, how much weight do these claims carry? How credible are they? Be specific. Think about how poorly or successfully the stakeholder cites FACTS, plays on our EMOTIONS, or presents themselves as a CREDIBLE actor in the debate.
The claims made are valid and that TEPCO believed that they had set up adequate measures in case of a tsunami or earthquake. The claims about how they are trying to help the community are attempts to play on our emotions.

4. Can you explain how these claims are similar and/or different to the other stakeholders? Be clear and precise - does this stakeholder have anything in common with others involved in the debate? Who do they have the least in common with? Why?
TEPCO is a unique stakeholder because all of the other stakeholders were affected by the disaster while TEPCO was the source of the disaster. This disaster made them lose billions of dollars and potentially more if nuclear power was to be banned.