May 7, 2012

May 7, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

This past weekend, the last nuclear plant in Japan was shut down. Tomari unit #3 was taken off line Saturday and is presently in cold shutdown for routine maintenance and refueling. The Japanese news media has used the moment to try and bring the issue of nuke restarts to a fever pitch. Most articles seriously overlap each other. Those listed below have some interesting and unique points that should be identified…

Now, for some other (at times related) updates…

  • The starting of a new nuclear regulatory agency continues to be delayed. Parliamentary deliberations on launching the new watchdog group have yet to begin because of considerable differences of opinion between political parties. The Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party submitted a bill in April that proposes putting a new agency under the control of what they call a “nuclear regulatory commission” with a legally guaranteed independence. Creation of the new commission would require Diet approval so it can have the right to decide on the agency’s personnel and budget matters. The LDP feels that one of the important lessons from the Fukushima crisis is to reduce the risks created by political interference. This conflicts with the now-ruling Democratic Party of Japan’s desire to create a new nuke watchdog group under the Environment Ministry, proposed in January. “What the government is trying to do is just create a second NISA under the Environment Ministry,” LDP member and former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said in January. Meanwhile, the DPJ doubts whether the opposition-proposed group would be capable of swift decision-making during a nuclear emergency. The delay in launching a new regulatory body has be instrumental in the complete cessation of nuclear plant operations. Satoshi Arai, chair of a DPJ taskforce on nuclear accident-related issues, says leaving safety decisions under the Industry Ministry is unacceptable because it both promotes and regulates the system, “Industry minister Yukio Edano is in charge of NISA and at the same time of energy policy … These two functions were what the International Atomic Energy Agency advised Japan in 2007 to separate, but what was not implemented.” He feels moving NISA to the non-vested Environment Ministry makes the most sense. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Osaka mayor Tori Hashimoto says the portrayal of him as anti-nuclear is false. He says he is against the opaque, top-down authority that has characterized Japan’s postwar rise which causes many Japanese to blame the government for failure to prevent last year’s accident and fully inform the public of the radiation risks it posed. He says the same political failings are the reason for widespread distrust of Tokyo’s reasons for wanting to restart nukes. “The restart issue reveals the flaws of Japan’s current system, and how it is beholden to special interests,” Hashimoto asserted this past weekend. He believes that all nuclear decisions are made “behind closed doors” and that no-one could possibly find that acceptable. Hashimoto is gaining considerable political support from across Japan. “The Japanese public is fed up with business as usual, and Mr. Hashimoto has been able to seize on that anger,” said Wataru Kitamura of Osaka University. “Japan is deeply frustrated by its own political paralysis, and many see him as the answer.” (New York Times – Asia Pacific)