The Japanese government may create a new nuclear safety agency under the environment ministry by April, the Asahi newspaper reported.
The government plans to form the new agency by merging the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, currently under the trade ministry, with the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.
NISA's lack of independence from the trade ministry, which promotes the use of atomic power, hampered a quick response to the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant this year, the government said in a report to the International Atomic Energy Agency in June. Chubu Electric Power Co. said last week the NISA had asked the utility to prepare questions favoring atomic power for a public hearing in 2007.
The environment ministry is expected to make a distinction between safety regulations on nuclear power and promotion of its use, the Asahi reported, citing an unidentified official at the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
