Japan sacked three senior bureaucrats in charge of nuclear power policy on Thursday, holding them to account for a series of scandals which have broken out in recent weeks over the government’s cozy relationship with the power industry.
Japanese Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, who oversees energy policy, said he plans to replace three senior officials in the ministry following the crisis at the Fukushima power plant, the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.
The three officials are Kazuo Matsunaga, the top bureaucrat at the trade ministry, Nobuaki Terasaka, head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and Tetsuhiro Hosono, head of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
Kaieda, who played a key role in handling the Fukushima crisis and who has said he intends to step down to take responsibility for missteps, vowed to carry out major changes in the ministry’s personnel but did not say when he will resign.
“I’m planning to breathe fresh air into the ministry with a large-scale reshuffle,” Kaieda told a news conference.
“This is what I’ve been thinking for about a month. I’ll have new people rebuild the ministry.”
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called for gradually weaning Japan off of its dependence on nuclear power and has expressed growing distrust toward the trade ministry, which has promoted atomic energy.
The unpopular Kan, who has been fighting to stay in his post despite calls even from his own party for him to step down, was instrumental in the decision to fire the three officials, Asahi Shimbun said.
The government also plans to form a new, more independent atomic safety regulator by separating it from the trade ministry, making tougher safety standards likely.
The Asahi reported that after sacking the three officials, Kaieda himself intended to quit as soon as possible.
Kaieda has previously expressed his intention to quit to take responsibility for the confusion over the restart of nuclear power reactors. Last month, he broke down in tears at a parliamentary hearing after being hounded by an opposition lawmaker about the timing of his resignation.
