politics

New nuclear safety agency to be set up under Environment Ministry

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The embattled prime minister, who has signaled his intention to step down in coming weeks,

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Maybe it will be independent!, but after the last 5 months of ineptitude lies and outright stupidity I have my doubts. New PM same pigs at the trough.

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"The current Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been widely criticized for cozy ties with the nuclear industry under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which promotes nuclear energy."

Does anyone here actually think this will change anything, particularly the cozy ties? Relabeling something you were caught mislabeling doesn't change the product.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Great news, we are going to take regulation of the nuclear industry from one government department and....erm...pass it on to another one? Wait....does someone see the flaw in this? How about creating an entirely independant watchdog headed by a panel of national and international experts? Nah, stupid idea.

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Are there any independent agencies that regulate anything in Japan? Independent meaning not paid by the Japanese government to do what the government wants them to do. Just curious.

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Ditto to the Environment Ministry. It is one of those ministry branches that turn out to be an inept, irresponsible government agent. They don't have a legal power to crack down on the cover-ups or falsifications of report because they are not an independent legal/audit agent. It's questionable they can intervene into the interests between nuclear industry and the Ministry of Economy for mandatory inspection and quality control.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If they're going to do this, they also need to handle testing of food for contamination. The Agricultural Ministry is in charge of promoting sales of farm products and helping farmers increase their incomes. It's a blatant conflict of interest for the Ministry to deal with radiation testing as well. The Japan Times is reporting what we are intended to take as good news, I gather, that a test in Chiba revealed no caesium in a rice field. To wit: "Osamu Yoshioka, an official who advises on testing farm produce at the farm ministry...Yoshioka said. "It's a random survey because we can't check everything. I don't think we'll see much tainted rice in the harvest."

Right. They won't see much because they don't wish to see much. We saw how the local authorities responded to contaminated tea and beef, hide and deny until it's distributed around the country. The test won't be random. They will identify some safe areas and test only there. If they find an unsafe area, they won't reveal it. They'll proclaim everything to be safe.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Nothing will change by putting it in another department. Japan's problems are mostly caused by public servants.

Someone said that money was the root of all evil. Well, in Japan, the civil servants are to blame. Doesn't matter who's in power. These guys can't move quickly, don't want to move quickly. This is the heart of everything wrong in Japan. The elites who are great at passing exams, know nothing about real life, and get ahead by just doing what the guy above them says until one day they get to the top, after of course marrying well. It's impossible to expect the govt to check businesses like Tepco or anything - because for one they don't know anything except paper work and meetings, and second because they are usually married into or someone connected to ojouchan from the companies they are supposed to be checking.

Anyone ever seen the great British comedy "Yes, Minister". Multiply that by 100 and take away the laughs and you have Japan.

From speedi, to lack of action re evacuations, food checking, it's all there. Hopeless. Sorry if I offended too many people. Just go down to your local city office. It's from the top right down to the bottom. Go slow, don't do anything out of the ordinary, go home, come back to work until you retire. Not many Action Jacksons in that crowd. Exactly the last kind of people you want running things in times of earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear power plant problems. And especially not when you have all three.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Prime Minister Naoto Kan told a parliamentary session Thursday that “someone who is not a blind advocate of nuclear safety or promoter of nuclear energy but is fully aware of the problems of nuclear power” should head the new regulatory agency.

I thought that was the function of NISA? It remains unclear how a new bureaucratic office will solve the problems of collusion. Still the decision making process is behind closed doors, and Japan's nuclear programs are really behind schedule.

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Independent but dependent on the Environment Ministry.

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Nothing has changed! They will evacuate people,children into a hot spot, why? Because they are stupid and have no responsibility. The system that educated them dissolved all chance of free thought and responsibility.

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The three replacements in METI are all from the pro-nuclear faction of METI!

Matsunaga made a deal with Kaieda to choose his own replacements, keeping Kan out of the loop. There is huge relief in METI that no significant change will occur.

METI have huge financial support (read cash contributions) from the industries that feed them, and thus political power, Environment are generally regarded as a very poor relation, good for image but bad for business.

Politics and reform - Japan style.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP.

S L A M ! ! !

That's the sound of the stable door slamming shut as the horse bolts.

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and leave the same people running it? huh? Moving it does not change how it is run!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If the world nuclear industry was serious about nuclear safety, only recognized industry critics would be allowed to staff regulatory agencies and only as long as they remain critical. Nuclear power is only competitive when it is allowed to roll the dice with safety (and our money). If the nuclear industry had to stand on it's own two feet it would fall flat on it's face. In Florida power companies are surcharging people for reactors that are not even built yet, and if they never get built the power companies get to keep the money. I've known people who claim they can drive intoxicated and their justification is that they've never had an accident or been arrested, they remind me of the nuclear industry's safety culture.

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New address, same lies.

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Does this new agency intend to hide information from the public too????

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Seems that Kan is throwing in some good legistlation before they oust him from his post, It appears that public oppinion is getting some results

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This is happening just to take our eyes off the Ball, warnerbro is right. WHERE are the results from the food testing. Fallout was happening in to many places up in Northern Japan and other areas, last years Rice stored indoors could have been contaminated from fallout. There is too much information Missing.

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About time!

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Very wise decision; they should have done it earlier. I can simply imagine how the attitudes of the committee members would be different during their meetings simply because of this change! A big plus for this simple but powerful solution!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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