Japan Nuclear Agency in New Storm
"The Japanese government disclosed reports Friday showing that its primary nuclear regulator [NISA] tried to manipulate public opinion at forums to promote nuclear power, findings that further damage the industry's already tattered reputation.
NISA had asked nuclear utilities to "seed" public events with utility employees and pro nuclear people and attempted to have the utility "give them supportive questions they could ask."
"NISA has been attacked by industry critics for having been too lax and too close to nuclear-plant operators ever since details of the March 11 events at Fukushima began to emerge." Wall Street Journal
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The Mainichi Daily News has reported on the same, and related stories. There is evidence that the Japanese nuclear power utilities, the Japanese federal regulatory agency, as well as elected officials at the prefectural and municipal levels, colluded to turn out pro-nuclear spokespeople at public hearings in favor of loading plutonium fuel into reactors across Japan, as well as in favor of re-starting atomic reactors after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe began. Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps, at the invitation of Green Action Japan and a network of grassroots Japanese anti-nuclear groups, toured Japan a year ago, making presentations about the risks of storing irradiated mixed oxide plutonium fuel in pools, as part of over decade long "Nix MOX" or "anti-pluthermal" campaigns. Despite this, Japanese nuclear utilities -- including Tepco at the now rubblized Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3, as well as Kyushu Electric at Genkai in Saga Prefecture on Japan's south island -- loaded plutonium in reactors in late 2010. U.S. nuclear utilities have similarly often turned out large numbers of their own workers (sometimes renting buses to transport them in), as well as local elected officials and businessmen and women, to promote such things as 20 year license extensions at old reactors, as well as the construction and operation of new reactors.