Disagreements between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and industry minister Banri Kaieda forced trade-offs in the new nuclear power safety evaluation regime announced by the government on July 11.
Disagreements between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and industry minister Banri Kaieda forced trade-offs in the new nuclear power safety evaluation regime announced by the government on July 11.
The system will introduce two sets of computer-based assessments for nuclear power stations, each reflecting the different visions of the prime minister and his industry minister.
The first-stage assessment, which will be applied to suspended reactors, is designed to allow those reactors to get restarted as quickly as possible, in line with the policy of Kaieda and his industry ministry.
Still, it is expected to take several months for those reactors to get restarted after the first-stage assessment.
The second-stage assessment, which will be applied to all reactors, reflects Kan's insistence that Japan's stress tests should be as strict as those of the European Union.
The reactors will be suspended depending on the results of the second-stage assessment.
A source close to Kan acknowledged that the two-stage system produced "new standards that do not solve any problem."
"(They) ended up as ambiguous rules due to differences among the ministers involved," the source said.
Excluding the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants, 25 of Japan's nuclear reactors are currently suspended for regular inspections or other reasons. They include two reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, which Kyushu Electric Power Co. has been pushing to restart.
The details of the new testing regime have yet to be finalized.
On July 11, officials at the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSC) were unable to provide specifics of the schedule and methodology of the testing because of the suddenness of the government's decision to introduce the new structure.
NISA, part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, is currently considering what should be included in the tests and is expected to report its findings to the NSC this week at the earliest.
"We cannot comment because concrete contents and schedules are not clear," Hakuei Ishizuka, who heads the safety environment department of Fukui Prefecture, said. "We cannot approve restarts unless the government responds to our requests on the safety of (aging) reactors and other issues."
There are also serious issues with the legal and organizational foundations of the new testing system.
Questions have been raised about the new role of the NSC under the new system.
Electric power companies will conduct the safety assessments by calculating their facilities' ability to withstand earthquakes and flooding not envisaged in their original designs.
NISA will inspect the results, and the NSC will evaluate whether the assessments are appropriate. The NSC was included in the process at Kan's insistence because he said the government could not get public backing if it allowed the restart of nuclear power reactors based only on the judgment of the industry ministry and NISA.
But Haruki Madarame, chairman of the NSC, said it will not be directly involved in decisions about whether reactors should be allowed to restart after the stress tests.
At a news conference on July 11, Madarame acknowledged the importance of the stress tests but emphasized that the commission's role is defined by law. The commission, set up under the Cabinet Office, is tasked with providing recommendations to the prime minister and government organizations.
The stress tests also lack legal foundation. Legally, there is nothing to stop reactors that pass regular inspections from being restarted.
While Kaieda agreed to make the first-stage assessment a condition for restarts, some industry ministry officials are questioning the legal basis for the new regime.
Local governments that have nuclear power plants in their areas are complaining that it is still difficult to make decisions on the restarts.
"The details of the methodology, what will be assessed and the period of the stress tests are unclear. We cannot evaluate (the government decision) at this stage," Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura said in a statement on July 11.
The No. 3 reactor at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime, which has been suspended for regular inspections, will be subject to the first-stage assessment, but Nakamura said the prefectural government has not made any decision on the restart of the reactor.
Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida was also critical of the government: "I cannot understand how the government can win public understanding without verifying the cause of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."
Some governors welcomed the government's decision to introduce stress tests.
"Although it is a little late, I am happy that the government has presented certain standards," said Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai.
Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi said she would look carefully at the details of the new assessment system.