The Nuclear Regulation Authority's secretariat on Feb. 1 disciplined a high-ranking official for leaking information to a nuclear power plant operator. But the inadequate nature of the disciplinary measure indicates that the secretariat does not realize the grave nature of the incident.
In the past, collusive relations existed between Japan's nuclear regulation organizations and the power industry. For example, the then Nuclear Safety Commission in 1992 asked the power industry to think up reasons for not taking measures to cope with the loss of all power sources at a nuclear power plant and adopted a composition written by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
The latest incident shows that such collusive relations have not been eradicated. A full investigation should be launched.
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