ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the regulatory capture in Japan's nuclear industry and the power of the nuclear village. The Fukushima disaster, nuclear accidents, policy contradictions, NIMBY protests and regional funding issues have presented recurring obstacles to the government's plans to perfect a completely indigenous fuel source for the twenty-first century. Japan's historic commitment to a robust nuclear energy program is largely due to its lack of domestic fossil fuel resources. Japan's government has promoted nuclear power as it perceives it is one of the few options that can help countries meet base load electricity demand with virtually no GHG emissions. A major research and fuel cycle establishment through to the late 1990s was the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC). Until 2012, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), situated within MITI/METI, was responsible for nuclear power regulation, licensing and safety and conducted regular safety inspections of nuclear power plants until it too was disbanded in 2012.
