Nuclear crisis panel must calmly find the truth

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A neutral and scientific verification of the facts is the vital mission of the new Diet panel charged with investigating the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The committee, which was jointly set up by the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, has started looking into the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The panel is headed by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a doctor of medicine and a former president of the Science Council of Japan.

Kurokawa expressed his determination to "earn trust for Japan as a state" by sharing details of this nation's response to the nuclear crisis with the world. He also said operators of nuclear plants around the globe will be able to make use of lessons this country learned from the crisis.

The panel will need to produce results that live up to Kurokawa's comment. The panel's investigation is limited to only six months. The chairman will need to exert leadership in managing the panel.

The panel's nine other members include Nobel laureate Koichi Tanaka and experts on nuclear reactors, earthquakes and radiation treatment, as well as a former prosecutor and a representative from areas affected by the nuclear crisis.

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Focus on the objective

When selecting the panel lineup, the ruling and opposition parties excluded anyone who had previously been involved in nuclear power administration. They apparently placed importance on ensuring that panel members had no ties with the government or Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

Some of the panel members are antinuclear proponents who have opposed the nation's use of nuclear power in the past.

Nevertheless, the investigation committee is not a place to discuss whether the country should abandon or promote nuclear power. Given this, panel members must take to heart that their primary objective is to conduct an objective investigation based on facts and witness accounts.

The panel will be required under law to make proposals on how to prevent nuclear accidents from happening again and steps to reduce damage caused by radiation that has leaked from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Panel members will dissect government and TEPCO documents and question witnesses for this purpose.

The panel is entitled to ask the Diet to exert its right of investigation in relation to government affairs. We hope the body will hone in on the truth by using every option at its disposal.

The panel will investigate a variety of matters including the direct causes of the crisis, and whether any parties involved failed to take proper measures to resolve the crisis or prevent it from worsening.

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Transparency essential

This is the first time the Diet has set up an investigative body featuring people from the private sector based on a law. The Diet's secretariat must provide proper assistance to the panel, such as by appointing staff members with expert knowledge.

The committee will reportedly make it a principle to thoroughly disclose information to the public during its investigation. Although ensuring transparency will certainly be important, the panel will need to consider how information is disclosed so that statements made at panel meetings are not always left open to criticism from outsiders.

As the ruling and opposition parties have agreed, every effort must be made so there will be absolutely no room for outsiders to doubt the panel's political neutrality.

Meanwhile, the government panel tasked with investigating and verifying the nuclear crisis is scheduled to compile its interim report by the end of this month. It is meaningful that two investigation panels, one set up by the Diet and the other by the government, are trying to uncover the truth from multiple viewpoints.

We hope the Diet investigative committee will be aware of its heavy responsibility and submit proposals that contribute to improving nuclear plant safety.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 9, 2011)