How independent can NRA be?

 February 21, 2014

EDITORIAL: NRA should ignore industry minister's remark on reactor screening

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201402210050 

Industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi made the following comment on the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s safety screening process for nuclear power plants, a prerequisite for restarting reactors: “For some plants, a long time has passed since their operators filed applications for screening. If the NRA shows the prospects of the screening, it will be useful for utilities to make plans for future operations.”

Motegi’s comment is an insult to the purpose of the law on the establishment of the nuclear watchdog that attaches importance to its independence and gives top priority to safety.

We strongly urge the minister to refrain from making such comments that could put pressure on the NRA.

The NRA must not be influenced by outside sources. Its mission is to conduct thorough safety checks from scientific and technical viewpoints without regard to the intentions of power companies and the industry ministry, which are eager to put nuclear power plants back online.

Motegi made the remarks on Feb. 18 in response to Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s announcement a day earlier that it intends to raise utility charges again.

Last July, as soon as the NRA started screening under its new safety standards, Hokkaido Electric applied for safety checks of the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors at its Tomari nuclear power plant.

In September, the utility raised electricity rates for households by an average 7.73 percent on the premise that the three reactors would be restarted one by one in December and later.

However, this week, the company said it would apply to the industry ministry for another price hike because it was not sure when those reactors will be put back online.

Motegi asked Hokkaido Electric to make efforts to avoid the price hike and suggested that the NRA show the prospects of the screening process.

He said his request was not intended to affect the screening process. But if such prospects are shown, it would benefit the utilities, and the industry minister is in no position to encourage the NRA to do so.

Motegi must not forget that the NRA was established because cozy relations between the former Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the industry ministry and the former Nuclear Safety Commission resulted in lax safety regulations.

The biggest factor hampering progress in the screening process lies with the operators of nuclear power plants. The utilities have underestimated the new safety regulation standards, leading to delays in preparing documents for screening their reactors.

Some operators presented half-baked scenarios of natural disasters while others failed to seriously consider an occurrence of a severe accident.

Their approach to the new safety regulation standards raises a key question: Have they really learned lessons from the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant?

The Tomari nuclear power plant, in particular, has had many problems.

In assessing the effectiveness of measures to deal with serious accidents at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, Hokkaido Electric used analysis data for the No. 3 reactor, whose structure is different.

The NRA harshly criticized the company’s approach, likening it to using a stand-in for an exam. The watchdog said there was no way it could carry out the screening process.

The company’s assumptions concerning tsunami were deemed “inappropriate,” and its assessment on the impact from volcanic eruptions was “inadequate.”

In addition, Hokkaido Electric was required to re-analyze the underground structure of the No. 3 reactor.

Motegi said he should refrain from commenting on why it is taking so much time for the NRA to carry out screenings. What he should do instead is correct the slack attitude of power companies.

Referring to Motegi’s comment, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said, “We do not regard it as a message to us.”

But a day earlier, the deputy secretary-general of the NRA Secretariat, which is in charge of actual screening work, indicated an acceptance of Motegi’s suggestion, saying it was “a natural comment as industry minister.”

To maintain its independence, the NRA must always take a resolute stand.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 21