Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC): findings and what happened next
The accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
- Country
- Japan
- Type
- independent review
- Established
- 8 December 2011
- Chaired by
- Kiyoshi Kurokawa
- Report published
- 2012
- Recommendations
- 7
Implementation, as of 8 July 2013A new regulator, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, was inaugurated in September 2012 and new reactor safety requirements took effect in July 2013. Whether the Diet created the permanent oversight committee the commission recommended was not reviewed.
What the inquiry found
- The commission described the accident as "a profoundly manmade disaster" that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.1
- The commission found that the accident resulted from "collusion between the government, the regulators and TEPCO."1
- The commission criticised regulators for accepting operator led safety measures and described regulatory capture.1
- The commission said TEPCO was too quick to attribute the accident to the tsunami alone and that earthquake damage could not be ruled out.1
Key recommendations
- Create a permanent committee of the Diet to supervise nuclear regulators.1
- Make the regulatory body independent, transparent, professional, consolidated and proactive.1
- Reform TEPCO and oversee all operators, and consolidate and rewrite nuclear laws to meet global safety standards.1
What happened next
- The Nuclear Regulation Authority was inaugurated as a new nuclear regulatory body, which the NRA described as a centerpiece action taken in Japan after the accident.2
- New regulatory requirements for commercial power reactors came into force. The NRA's outline of the requirements cited NAIIC findings, including that countermeasures against severe accidents had been left to the discretion of operators.2
Read the report: www.nirs.org/wp-content/uploads/fukushima/naiic_report.pdf
Sources
- National Diet of Japan (copy hosted by NIRS), The official report of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, executive summary (2012)
- Nuclear Regulation Authority (Japan), Enforcement of the New Regulatory Requirements for Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors (8 July 2013)