The Nuclear Regulatory Agency was originally scheduled to be set up on April 1. Although the Noda Cabinet endorsed a bill to establish the agency on Jan. 31 and send it to the Diet that day, the Diet has yet to start deliberating on it. The legislature should be strongly censured for its neglect.
The crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has underlined the irresponsible nature of Japan's nuclear regulatory administration. In the Fukushima crisis, the plant's Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors suffered meltdowns. Symbolic is the fact that the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) is part of the trade and industry ministry, which is a promoter of nuclear power.
Under the bill, NISA and the Nuclear Safety Commission would be reorganized into the Nuclear Regulatory Agency to be established as an extra-ministerial bureau of the Environment Agency. The environment minister would appoint the planned agency's head and entrust the power to carry out regulatory work to the him or her. The government should strive to hire knowledgeable and conscientious people for the agency's 485 posts.