nuclear-news

Japanese lawmakers plan for new nuclear regulatory body

Opposition wins on nuke watchdog, Japan Times, Kyodo 7 June 12, The administration will effectively accept a plan proposed by opposition parties to set up an independent “nuclear regulatory commission,” lawmakers said following talks between ruling and opposition parties to explore amending a bill to create a new nuclear regulatory agency. The opposition partners Liberal Democratic Party
and New Komeito have proposed creating a five-member commission with
legally guaranteed independence in personnel appointments and
budgetary matters, giving the body a status akin to the antimonopoly
watchdog, the Fair Trade Commission.

The government has been working for months to create a new
organization to replace the existing Nuclear and Industrial Safety
Agency, after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster last
year exposed the agency’s shortcomings and led to the halt of all
nuclear reactors in the country amid safety concerns…… Both the
government and the opposition parties seek to create a new regulatory
body under the Environment Ministry, separating NISA from the Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry, a promoter of nuclear power.

But the opposition parties have proposed that a new nuclear regulatory
agency be placed under the control of the nuclear regulatory
commission.

While the government has made a compromise to create the commission,
the ruling and opposition parties still need to narrow their
differences over issues such as whether to retain the prime minister’s
right to give instructions to related entities in times of
emergency….. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120607a6.html

June 8, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics