Dow Jones reported that the Japanese government will launch a two stage safety review of the nation's nuclear plants, seeking to end confusion over its intentions after Prime Minister Mr Naoto Kan abruptly announced last week that he would order stress tests on all of Japan's nuclear facilities.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Mr Yukio Edano, the government's top spokesman, told reporters that "The government is making utmost efforts to tackle the nuclear issue, but we have to also sincerely respond to criticism that we are behind the curve."
Mr Edano said the first stage would be to check currently idled plants, with the broader second phase for plants currently in operation.
As the peak summer season approaches, Japan is facing the prospect of power shortages if plants currently shut for routine maintenance are not brought back on line, a problem complicated by public concerns over safety after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis.
At present, only 19 of the country's 54 nuclear reactors are operating, and more will go offline in the coming months as all plants are subject to maintenance checks every 13 months.
Kan's sudden announcement last week prompted the governor of Saga prefecture in southern Japan to backtrack on an earlier statement of support to restart operations at two units of the Genkai plant, located in the prefecture.
Mr Edano said that "We apologize to the people in Saga for all the confusion and worry that we have caused." He added that the new plan was agreed by the prime minister and Trade and Industry Minister Mr Banri Kaieda, who had already given approval for the restart of the Genkai units.
The new program gives a larger role to the semi-independent Nuclear Safety Commission, rather than a separate nuclear regulator under the control of the industry ministry.
Up until now the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been at the forefront of the government's efforts to regulate the industry, but there have been concerns that, as part of the ministry, the agency has been too lax in dealing with nuclear plant operators.
The NSC will design the testing program, which will then be undertaken by the utilities. NISA will then check the results and report back to the NSC.
Mr Edano did not offer any further details of the tests, their timing, or how the two stages would differ. He did say that the second stage tests would be similar to the stress tests proposed by EU officials just after the Fukushima accident took place. He added that "We cannot comment when we want all the tests to be finished. That's something that the commission decides."
