Independance will be maintained no matter which government

November 22, 2012

Nuclear regulatory body to seek independence under any ruling party

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20121122p2g00m0dm025000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's nuclear regulatory authority chief said Wednesday that he will maintain the independence of his organization no matter which political party takes control of the government following next month's general election.

"Politics change moment to moment...but we will maintain our independence by making scientific and professional judgments," Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, told a press conference.

The NRA was launched in September as a highly independent organization after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster last year raised questions over the closeness of regulators and promoters of atomic power, which may have resulted in lax supervision of nuclear facilities.

More than two months after its establishment, the NRA invited Wednesday five experts to seek their advice about the organization's activities.

Some experts warned that the NRA should avoid taking exclusive attitudes to different views and being bureaucratic.

"In Japan, organizations do not know how to respond when they face non-conforming elements or when challenged...Unless we change a system that excludes differences, safety culture will unlikely be nurtured," said Yoichi Funabashi, who was involved in establishing a private-sector panel that investigated the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Kunio Yanagida, a nonfiction writer and member of the government-appointed nuclear accident investigation panel, emphasized the importance of analyzing the details of the cause of the accident and background factors.

"Without taking actions based on the lessons learned from the accident, it will be difficult to win trust and convince the public," he said.

Tetsunari Iida, a well-known renewable energy proponent, raised questions about the NRA's decision to leave two nuclear reactors at the Oi plant in western Japan online while carrying out an investigation into faults running underneath the complex.

"If the NRA decides to suspend the reactors for investigation, it would be one way to restore public confidence," the executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies said.

Of the 50 commercial reactors in Japan, those two reactors were allowed by the government to resume operating before the country's nuclear regulatory framework was revamped in September.

If the NRA judges that active faults lie beneath facilities important for the safe operation of reactors, the body is expected to ask plant operator Kansai Electric Power Co. to suspend the two reactors.