Of all the shocking revelations over the past year about nuclear power plants in Japan, the recent revelation that the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency canceled safety studies in 2006 is one of the most exasperating. The agency responsible for nuclear safety should have expanded the studies, not cut back, and then gone on to implement proposals and improve oversight of nuclear safety.
According to media reports, the head of the regulatory agency in 2006 canceled studies into establishing larger no-go zones around nuclear power plants in the event of a disaster. At a meeting with members of the Nuclear Safety Commission, the head of the agency at that time said safety studies would only cause more people to worry about the safety of nuclear power.
Safety studies do increase public awareness of problems, and awareness often brings worry. However, the studies that were canceled were intended to be realistic assessments of the dangers of nuclear power plants. Better assessment would have helped in the aftermath of the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant last year. The studies were also intended to provide sensible planning for disasters by bringing Japanese regulations up to international standards. Public concern is an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of realistic understanding and sensible preparations.