Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 29 - March 6 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

N-energy must be regulated by independent body: JCP Yoshii

Japanese Communist Party Lower House member Yoshii Hidekatsu on March 5 urged the government to launch a nuclear energy regulatory body completely independent of ministerial promoters of such energy.

At the Lower House Budget Committee’s working group meeting, he made the remark in opposition to a proposed bill to set up in the Environment Ministry an agency that regulates the safety of nuclear power plants.

“The Environment Ministry has been a promoter of nuclear power generation,” said Yoshii, pointing out that it has not once opposed the construction of 12 nuclear reactors in their environmental impact assessments since 1999.

He pointed out that a basic bill to tackle global warming proposed by the Environment Ministry clearly reveals its position to “promote nuclear power generation by gaining citizens’ understanding and trust.”

Yoshii also cited an interview of Environment Minister Hosono Goshi carried by Mainichi Shimbun on that day in which he mentioned the need to reactivate off-line reactors.

Calling on the government to follow an international treaty that stipulates the need for the separation of nuclear energy promoters from regulators, Yoshii demanded that a nuclear safety regulatory body have complete independence regarding authority, funding, and personnel.