Page 34 - Nuclear Plant Journal Digital Edition: January - February 2013
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34
Nuclear Plant Journal, January-February 2013
Fukushima
Recommendations...
Continued from page 33
regulatory agencies, academics and
stakeholders.
2. To establish an advisory body,
including independent experts with
a global perspective, to keep the
committee’s knowledge updated in
its dealings with regulators.
3. To continue investigations on other
relevant issues.
4. To make regular reports on their
activities and the implementation of
their recommendations.
Recommendation 2:
Reform the crisis management
system.
A fundamental reexamination of
the crisis management system must
be made. The boundaries dividing the
responsibilities of the national and local
governments and the operators must be
made clear. This includes:
1. A reexamination of the crisis
management structure of the
government. A structure must be
established with a consolidated chain
of command and the power to deal
with emergency situations.
2. National and local governments must
bear responsibility for the response to
off-site radiation release. They must
act with public health and safety as
the priority.
3. The
operator
must
assume
responsibility for on-site accident
response, including the halting of
operations, and reactor cooling and
containment.
Recommendation 3:
Government responsibility for public
health and welfare.
Regarding the responsibility to
protect public health, the following must
be implemented as soon as possible:
1. A system must be established to deal
with long-term public health effects,
including stress-related illness.
Medical diagnosis and treatment
should be covered by state funding.
Information should be disclosed
with public health and safety as
the priority, instead of government
convenience. This
information
must be comprehensive, for use
by individual residents to make
informed decisions.
2. Continued monitoring of hotspots
and the spread of radioactive
contamination must be undertaken to
protect communities and the public.
Measures to prevent any potential
spread should also be implemented.
3. The government must establish a
detailed and transparent program of
decontamination and relocation, as
well as provide information so that
all residents will be knowledgeable
about their compensation options.
Recommendation 4:
Monitoring the operators.
TEPCO must undergo fundamental
corporatechanges,includingstrengthening
its governance, working towards building
an organizational culture which prioritizes
safety, changing its stance on information
disclosure, and establishing a system
which prioritizes the site. In order to
prevent the Federation of Electric Power
Companies (FEPC) from being used as
a route for negotiating with regulatory
agencies, new relationships among the
electric power companies must also
be established—built on safety issues,
mutual supervision and transparency.
1. The government must set rules and
disclose information regarding its
relationship with the operators.
2. Operators must construct a cross-
monitoring system to maintain
safety standards at the highest global
levels.
3. TEPCO must undergo dramatic
corporate
reform,
including
governance and risk management
and information disclosure—with
safety as the sole priority.
4. All operators must accept an agency
appointed by the National Diet as a
monitoring authority of all aspects
of their operations, including risk
management, governance and safety
standards, with rights to on-site
investigations.
Recommendation 5:
Criteria for the new regulatory body.
The new regulatory organization
must adhere to the following conditions.
It must be:
1. Independent: The chain of command,
responsible authority and work
processes must be: (i) Independent
from organizations promoted by the
government (ii) Independent from
the operators (iii) Independent from
politics.
2. Transparent: (i) The decision-
making process should exclude
the involvement of electric power
operator stakeholders. (ii) Disclosure
of the decision-making process to
the National Diet is a must. (iii) The
committee must keep minutes of all
other negotiations and meetings with
promotional organizations, operators
and other political organizations and
disclose them to the public. (iv) The
National Diet shall make the final
selection of the commissioners after
receiving third-party advice.
3. Professional: (i) The personnel must
meet global standards. Exchange
programs with overseas regulatory
bodies must be promoted, and
interaction and exchange of human
resources must be increased. (ii)
An advisory organization including
knowledgeable personnel must be
established.
4. Consolidated: The functions of the
organizations, especially emergency
communications, decision-making
and control, should be consolidated.
5. Proactive: The organizations should
keep up with the latest knowledge
and technology, and undergo
continuous reform activities under
the supervision of the Diet.
Recommendation 6:
Reforming laws related to nuclear
energy.
Laws concerning nuclear issues must
be thoroughly reformed.
1. Existing laws should be consolidated
and rewritten in order to meet global
standards of safety, public health and
welfare.
2. The roles for operators and all
government agencies involved in
emergency response activities must
be clearly defined.
3. Regular monitoring and updates
must be implemented, in order to
maintain the highest standards and
the highest technological levels of
the international nuclear community.
4. New rules must be created that
oversee the backfit operations of
old reactors, and set criteria to
determine whether reactors should
be decommissioned.
(Continued on page 50)
