Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan admitted the response to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis was defective and called for drastic improvements should another occur.
The existing response regime under the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, which is part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "did not function at all in terms of crisis management" after the March 11 megaquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima crisis, Kan said.
Kan, who was the prime minister when the disasters ravaged the Tohoku region, also said careful attention must be paid in selecting staff for the atomic regulatory agency to be established in April in order to underscore safety instead of the METI push to promote nuclear power.