The government might compromise with the opposition camp to expedite the establishment of the new nuclear safety agency, sources said Friday.

The administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, which failed to form the new body on April 1, is hoping to speed up the process to prevent an electricity crisis from occurring this summer because of public resistance to restarting the nation's nuclear power plants.

The government and the two major opposition parties envision placing the new nuclear regulatory agency under the wing of the Environment Ministry, and separating the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from the trade ministry, which was tasked with promoting Japan's "nuclear safety myth" for decades.

But a bill the government has submitted to the Diet is seeking to put the environment minister in charge of the new agency's personnel and budgetary affairs, citing the need for government involvement in crisis management.

In contrast, a bill presented last month by the two opposition parties, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party and ally New Komeito, calls for creating a highly independent nuclear regulatory commission as an umbrella organization that would take control of the new agency's personnel and budget matters.

The proposed commission would have its independence guaranteed under Article 3 of the National Government Organization Act, as is the case for the Fair Trade Commission, an antimonopoly watchdog, and other entities.

The LDP and New Komeito want the commission to be sufficiently free of political influence, saying political intervention will only generate confusion during a nuclear accident.