In 2006, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked a utility to manipulate public opinion in favor of nuclear power at a public forum, a fresh example of collusion between the nuclear watchdog and electric power companies.
In 2006, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked a utility to manipulate public opinion in favor of nuclear power at a public forum, a fresh example of collusion between the nuclear watchdog and electric power companies.
The Shikoku Electric Power Co. admitted NISA asked it to mobilize residents to attend the June 2006 public hearing in Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, home to Shikoku Electric's Ikata nuclear power plant, the industry ministry said July 29.
NISA wanted the utility to persuade people to speak up in favor of the utility's planned use of MOX fuel (plutonium oxide mixed with uranium) at the plant.
The revelation came after NISA was found to have asked Chubu Electric Power Co. to plant pro-nuclear supporters in a public forum in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, which hosts the utility's Hamaoka nuclear plant, in August 2007.
Industry minister Banri Kaieda promised a thorough probe into the issue.
Kaieda said the government will set up an independent panel to look into the allegations.
"It is an extremely serious situation," Kaieda said July 29. "We want to get the bottom (of what really happened)."
The panel is expected to present its findings by the end of August.
NISA's role in the public hearings surfaced after the ministry, which oversees NISA, began probing seven regional utilities on whether 35 public forums organized by the government in their jurisdictions in the past five years had been seeded with pro-nuclear voices.
The investigation was prompted by Kyushu Electric Power Co. acknowledgement earlier this month that an official of the company had asked employees of an affiliate to send e-mail messages to steer a public forum in favor of nuclear power.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry received reports on the issue from utilities on July 29.
Shikoku Electric reported it had asked 364 employees of the utility and its affiliates to attend the hearing after NISA asked it to "recruit many participants to raise questions and present opinions."
The utility sought out 29 people, including local residents, to speak up in the government-sponsored session, providing them with "example opinions" beforehand.
About 300 people, roughly half those in attendance, were mobilized by Shikoku Electric.
One person said at the session: "I was somewhat relieved to learn that using fuel made from plutonium blended with uranium would not be very different from using uranium in terms of the gases generated." The words were similar to the sample opinions.
Chubu Electric, meanwhile, asked its own employees, subcontractors and senior officials at district associations to attend the public forum.
Akihisa Mizuno, president of Chubu Electric, apologized at a news conference.
"We deeply regret (what happened)," Mizuno said. "We will ensure things are done in the future to leave no doubts about impartiality."
Unlike Shikoku Electric, Chubu Electric did not follow NISA's instruction to ask people to speak up in favor of nuclear power, saying it "would compromise compliance."
Shikoku Electric said that it does not believe its actions amount to "faking support" for nuclear power.
"We did not force participants to say anything specific," the utility's spokesperson said.
Separate from its latest report to METI, Kyushu Electric has admitted the Resources and Energy Agency asked it to fill a public forum. "Fewer vacant seats are better," the agency was quoted by the utility as saying. The agency comes under the oversight of METI.
Recruiting attendees and manipulating public opinion in favor of electric utility plans has apparently been standard practice in the industry for many years.
But the revelation of NISA's role in the practice is certain to fuel calls to sever its connections with METI, which promotes nuclear power.
Criticism mounted after the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, with many contending NISA's ability to keep tabs on the nuclear industry has been compromised.
Meanwhile, Nobuaki Terasaka, director of NISA, told a news conference on the night of July 29 that the agency is in serious trouble if the utilities' reports are true.
"We face a grave situation because the agency is supposed to be neutral and impartial," Terasaka said in his first public appearance in four months.
But he said nothing about his own responsibility. He said the task of verifying the reports on NISA's instructions to the utilities will be left to the ministry's independent panel.