Japanese Prime Minister Kan resigns after passage of bill promoting renewable energy

Kan has served as Japan's Prime Minister for 15 months, including nearly 6 months overshadowed by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastropheThe Japan Times reported on Friday, August 27th that Prime Minister Naoto Kan has resigned the presidency of the Democratic Party of Japan, and will resign as Japan's Prime Minister as soon as a replacement has been named in the coming days. Under increasing pressure to resign, Kan has pledged for some time to do so as soon as key bills were passed by the Japanese Diet (federal parliament), including one promoting renewable energy as a replacement for atomic reactors, which Kan has called to be phased out after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe. Meanwhile, the Japan Times reports that among the Democratic Party of Japan candidates vying for the party's presidency and Prime Minister's mantle is the head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Banri Kaieda. The Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency (NISA) has resided within METI until very recently. METI's explicit mandate is to promote atomic energy, but the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe has led to long overdue reform efforts, to separate nuclear regulation from nuclear promotion. Critics, such as the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, have called for such reforms for over a decade, ever since the deadly Tokai-Mura nuclear accident of 1999.

Another contender, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda, has indicated that old atomic reactors should be shut down, while it will now be difficult to build new ones in Japan -- although he is open to allowing currently exisiting reactors proven "safe" to be allowed to operate, in order to address Japan's electricity crisis.

Update on August 29, 2011 by admin

As reported by the Mainichi Daily News, Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Finance Minister Noda has won the DPJ presidency, meaning he will take the reigns as the Prime Minister of Japan tomorrow. He beat out Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) head Kaeida. METI, whose mandate is to promote atomic energy, has also been home to NISA, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the supposed safety regulator on the industry. In the aftermath of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe, there has been general agreement to move NISA out of METI, to separate the promotional and regulatory roles. As mentioned above, Noda has indicated that old, unsafe atomic reactors must be shut down, and also that it will be very difficult now to build new reactors in Japan. Now former Prime Minister Kan has called for a Japan free of nuclear energy in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Noda will serve out the rest of Kan's remaining term, until September 2012.