EDITORIAL | NRA Must Discard Old Ways that Put Energy Security to Risk Security

The complexion of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has changed as two commissioners have been replaced. Akira Ishiwatari was in charge of inspections related to earthquake and tsunami countermeasures. Satoru Tanaka was in charge of inspecting nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Both experts retired at the end of their terms. 

They have been succeeded respectively by Koshun Yamaoka, a seismologist and volcanologist, and Shinya Nagasaki, a nuclear engineer.

Big Agency, Low Accountability

The NRA has five commissioners, including chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka. Together, they oversee the activities of the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan, a highly independent administrative agency with several thousand employees.

Since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor accident, the NRA has been involved in activities at all nuclear power sites in Japan. That includes conducting safety inspections of nuclear power plants looking to restart.

However, the NRA's inspections have taken far longer than expected. Hopefully, the newcomers Yamaoka and Nagasaki will breathe fresh air into the NRA, which seems to have become "hostage" to a zero-risk mentality. The commission and the Nuclear Regulation Authority seem unaware that they have been moving away from seeking overall optimization. Instead, they got mired in pursuing piecemeal safety measures emphasizing individual facets of nuclear power plants and reprocessing facilities. 

Slow, Far Beyond the 2-Year Review Period

Also, the actual safety inspections of nuclear power plants have been abnormally slow. Only 17 of the 25 existing nuclear power stations requesting inspection have been cleared for restart. The remaining eight plants applied for clearance roughly a decade ago. The delays are staggering, considering that the Administrative Procedure Act stipulates a two-year safety review period. 

On top of this, the regulators have unfairly tried to shift all the blame to the electric power companies. They have alleged "incompetence," but isn't it the regulators who aren't doing their job? 

The NRA's five Guiding Principles for Activities include "independent decision-making." However, these principles do not mention "efficiency," leaving their independent judgment as the sole decisive factor. In contrast, the five "Principles of Good Regulation" of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) include "efficiency" as well as "independence."

The lack of equality between regulators and power companies is also an obstacle to moving the review process forward. This display of putting the bureaucrats above the people is appalling. 

Tsuruga Power Station Inspection Problem

In the summer of 2024, Japan Atomic Power Company's Tsuruga No 2 Reactor in Fukui Prefecture became the first nuclear power plant to fail a safety inspection aimed at restarting operations. Comments are now being solicited from the general public concerning the contents of this inspection. 

The facility failed the inspection because NRA inspectors deemed a fault located about 300 meters from the No 2 reactor to be an active fault. They also "assumed" that this fault extends under the reactor building. Both judgments are based on the forced reasoning assumption that "the possibility cannot be denied."

Outside experts are now expected to raise some serious questions about the NRA judgment. We urge the NRA commissioners to respond sincerely to the public comments. 

Delays in restarting nuclear power stations are increasing energy security risks. If the NRA sticks to its old way of doing things, the nation's future will be jeopardized.

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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun