Many thanks to Richard Katz for pointing out the DPJ retreat on the issue of the age at which nuclear plants are to be retired. I wasn't aware that the possibility to extend their lifetimes by 20 years had been granted.

I would like to pose a question to the members of this forum about the regulatory independence of the new nuclear safety agency. The great number of ex-METI staff that have been made part of this agency is sure to have raised some eyebrows at this point, but my question would be about their potential independence in the future.

I have not been following this as closely as i should have, so i am not clear about their mandate and the scope of their authority. My only reference point is the founding of the Japanese Environmental Agency, which was staffed with people from MHW, MAFF, MITI and the Economic Planning Agency. Studies such as McKean (Pollution and Policy Making, in Pempel's Policymaking in Contemporary Japan) and Wong (The Roots of Japan's International Environmental Policies) show that it was quite a while before these people developed an identity of their own and started acting as the JEA and not just staffers on secondment from their mother-ministries.

So, does anybody here have any ideas about how neutrality and independence of agencies has been ensured in other cases? Or gone spectacularly wrong?
What would be some interesting developments to watch out for? Examples either from Japan or other places would be welcome.

Thank you,

Alex Luta,
PhD Cand,
Tokyo Institute of Technology.