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New nuclear regulatory agency launched

13 Comments

Japan on Wednesday launched a new independent nuclear regulatory body in response to claims that cozy relationships and an overly powerful industry were responsible for the disaster at Fukushima.

But critics charge the Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) is a watchdog without any teeth and say the installation of an insider to head the organization was a case of business as usual.

Dissenting lawmakers said the appointment of Shunichi Tanaka as the chairman of the NRA was questionable because he previously served in key positions in entities that contributed to Japan's nuclear energy drive.

However, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda went ahead with the appointment after Tanaka pledged to keep his distance from nuclear power plant operators.

The launch of the new nuclear watchdog comes as ministers have suggested the government had not quite fully approved a plan to phase out nuclear energy in the 2030s despite its announcement at the end of last week.

Japan has faced international and domestic criticism in the months since the disaster at Fukushima over the close relationships between nuclear power companies, the regulators who are supposed to police them and the government.

Erstwhile nuclear regulator the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) was administered by the industry ministry, which also had responsibility for promoting nuclear power.

The existence of two different regulatory bodies -- NISA and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), a body administered by the cabinet office -- also proved an obstacle in dealing with the aftermath of reactor meltdowns at Fukushima.

Critics say the two bodies did not share information and did not cooperate on policy.

The NRA takes over the role as safety regulator from both NISA and NSC, and will be in charge of enforcing tougher rules the government has decided to introduce.

The NRA is also tasked with approving restarts of the country's reactors, most of which have been idled for regular checkups, with public opinion seemingly hardening against allowing their restart.

The NRA will hold its first meeting later Wednesday to discuss how to operate the new organization, a spokeswoman for the organization said.

The government says the independence of the NRA is guaranteed by giving it a status similar to the country's antimonopoly watchdog, the Japan Fair Trade Commission.

Ahead of a general election expected this autumn, nuclear energy has become a hot button issue in Japan with protests that sometimes attract tens of thousands of people calling for it to be ditched.

© (C) 2012 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

13 Comments
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"a drive to improve nuclear safety and restore public trust..."

No, in other words it means to bully residents into acceptance.

If peope are not happy with nuclear power stations after that huge disadter, and talk of future quakes and tsunamis, there is no "restoring public trust".

Nuclear power stations should be 100% safe, and no nuclear agency can guarantee that.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Maybe it could lobby for the ending of widespread debris burning in Japan?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Notice they are all Japanese, old, and old-school. But I am sure they will be honest and expose any and all misdeeds.

Yeah right!

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Que the benny hill music.

Seriously, After Japan almost destroying the whole western seaboard of the USA, dumping tons of toxic waste into the oceans and discovering all the corruption behind the accident, and not holding anyone accountable, how the hell does the international community even accept Japan to take this great responsibility on their own. They threaten the safety of the entire world.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The best way to :

restore public trust

is to find the best, quickest way to shut existing NPPs down, NOT to continue building three new ones...

6 ( +7 / -1 )

well at leats we know where all that money is going

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath. - Oscar Levant

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A NEW Japanese nuclear regulatory agency? I feel safer already!

8 ( +8 / -0 )

I don't know why, but I can't help getting an image of a chorus line and a big 'number' for the launch with lots of jazz and pazzazz and razzmatazz, like the opening of Family Guy to see this in.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Old wine in a new bottle. What a shame, just changing the sign boards and you have a "new" regulatory agency. I read that 350 staff from the old agency will retain their former jobs in the "new" agency. Who are the top honchos of the NISA and have they been taken to task, that is arrested and their pension entitlements withdrawn. Is there any accountability? I guess that will never happen in the nuclear industry as they make money going up or down. Zero nuclear is the only way to go.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

jazz350Sep. 20, 2012 - 10:10AM JST

Old wine in a new bottle. What a shame, just changing the sign boards and you have a "new" regulatory agency. I read that 350 staff from the old agency will retain their former jobs in the "new" agency.

When you realize that only about five times that number in the world are qualified to determine plant safety, you might rethink your stance.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Basroil,

When you realize that only about five times that number in the world are qualified to determine plant safety, you might rethink your stance.

Be that as it may, there is no evidence that the 350 who were kept on are among the 1750 (5*350) that you state are qualified for the task (or any other task for that matter).

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

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