Japan to set up new nuclear agency under environment ministry

Japan will set up a new nuclear regulatory agency under the Environment Ministry instead of the trade ministry.

 

This is meant to increase the body's independence after the country’s atomic disaster, officials said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the Cabinet was expected to approve the plan by Monday.

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

“We expect to make the agency an affiliate of the Environment Agency,” Edano said. “Environment and nuclear issues have a certain affinity for each other.”

Under the plan, drafted by Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of the nuclear crisis, NISA would be integrated with the Nuclear Safety Commission, an independent panel of experts under the Cabinet Office, to become a more independent entity distanced from the nuclear industry and other promoters of atomic power.