I refer to The Japan Times' July 2 article "Nuclear safety rules put onus on utilities." While the Nuclear Regulation Authority has done well introducing more stringent requirements to ensure the safety of the nuclear power stations in Japan, on the basis of the Fukushima experience, the new rules seem to be heavily oriented toward accidents taking place as a result of natural calamities alone.
A Fukushima-like accident can also take place as a result of a worker's lapse or a mechanical failure due to a defective component in the station.
Unless the NRA also orders a thorough retraining of the workers under simulated operating conditions and a comprehensive verification of the reliability of the component parts of each nuclear power reactor, there will be no guarantee of preempting a Fukushima-like accident in the future.
As we in India are concerned about the safety of our own nuclear power stations, what Japan and other countries do to strengthen the safety systems will be of great interest to us.
I hope that the nuclear regulator in Japan sets an example for regulators elsewhere.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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