4 JAPAN’S NUCLEAR SAFETY REGULATION POLICY
81
The Nuclear Regulation Authority Establishment Act (NRA Act),
passed by the Japanese parliament in June 2012, contains provisions
to ensure organisational autonomy from both the remainder of the
administration and the nuclear industry. Making the NRA an Article 3
commission organisation granted it many of the same rights as a ministry.
It also gave the NRA necessary competencies vis-à-vis the industry to
regulate nuclear power plants. Article 3 grants the NRA the sole right to
exercise authority within its area of jurisdiction. This makes courts the
only bodies with the authority to override NRA decisions on nuclear
safety. The NRA Act also gave the NRA board autonomy to decide all
aspects of the new safety agency not specified by the law. The board
took the opportunity to implement rules reinforcing the NRA’s organisational autonomy by adopting guidelines for transparency, neutrality of
experts, neutrality of commissioners, and rules against regular staff transfers with the remainder of the administration, especially METI, and the
nuclear industry. The legal framework and operational guidelines served
as important cornerstones for the NRA’s independence. 5
Shortly after its inauguration, the NRA determined its purpose to
consist of translating the lessons learned from 3/11 into organisational
practices with three goals in mind: to prevent a large-scale accident from
happening again, to restore public trust in nuclear safety administration, and to rebuild nuclear safety management by putting a genuine
safety culture in place. Its declared mission was “to protect the general
public and the environment through rigorous and reliable regulation of
nuclear activities” (NRA 2014b). To achieve this, the NRA board adopted
a number of guidelines, including transparency guidelines for NRA
Commission meetings, guidelines for managing administrative documents, and a code of conduct for NRA Commission members (NRA
2013b). Soon after, guidelines followed for ensuring transparency and
neutrality when consulting external experts (NRA Commission 2012).
Basically, the NRA vowed to regain public trust in nuclear safety administration that was lost after the March 2011 nuclear accident by implementing strict safety standards in an independent, transparent, and neutral
manner.
An Independent Regulatory Agency. By 2016, the NRA consisted of
a board of five scientists and nuclear experts, as well as a secretariat 6 of
almost 1000 full-time employees. As such, it reached about half of the size
of the Ministry of Environment with which it was affiliated. According to
the literature on regulatory agencies, the NRA should meet certain criteria
81
The Nuclear Regulation Authority Establishment Act (NRA Act),
passed by the Japanese parliament in June 2012, contains provisions
to ensure organisational autonomy from both the remainder of the
administration and the nuclear industry. Making the NRA an Article 3
commission organisation granted it many of the same rights as a ministry.
It also gave the NRA necessary competencies vis-à-vis the industry to
regulate nuclear power plants. Article 3 grants the NRA the sole right to
exercise authority within its area of jurisdiction. This makes courts the
only bodies with the authority to override NRA decisions on nuclear
safety. The NRA Act also gave the NRA board autonomy to decide all
aspects of the new safety agency not specified by the law. The board
took the opportunity to implement rules reinforcing the NRA’s organisational autonomy by adopting guidelines for transparency, neutrality of
experts, neutrality of commissioners, and rules against regular staff transfers with the remainder of the administration, especially METI, and the
nuclear industry. The legal framework and operational guidelines served
as important cornerstones for the NRA’s independence. 5
Shortly after its inauguration, the NRA determined its purpose to
consist of translating the lessons learned from 3/11 into organisational
practices with three goals in mind: to prevent a large-scale accident from
happening again, to restore public trust in nuclear safety administration, and to rebuild nuclear safety management by putting a genuine
safety culture in place. Its declared mission was “to protect the general
public and the environment through rigorous and reliable regulation of
nuclear activities” (NRA 2014b). To achieve this, the NRA board adopted
a number of guidelines, including transparency guidelines for NRA
Commission meetings, guidelines for managing administrative documents, and a code of conduct for NRA Commission members (NRA
2013b). Soon after, guidelines followed for ensuring transparency and
neutrality when consulting external experts (NRA Commission 2012).
Basically, the NRA vowed to regain public trust in nuclear safety administration that was lost after the March 2011 nuclear accident by implementing strict safety standards in an independent, transparent, and neutral
manner.
An Independent Regulatory Agency. By 2016, the NRA consisted of
a board of five scientists and nuclear experts, as well as a secretariat 6 of
almost 1000 full-time employees. As such, it reached about half of the size
of the Ministry of Environment with which it was affiliated. According to
the literature on regulatory agencies, the NRA should meet certain criteria