Takeo Hoshi on Japan's Nuclear Safety
How Japan Can Avert Nuclear Disaster
06/07/2012
Takeo Hoshi and Anil K Kashyap,
Bloomberg
On May 5, the Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido shut down for routine maintenance, leaving Japan with no operating nuclear-power plants. There is a confused debate over what to do next.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has called for restarting the reactors at Ohi plant in Fukui, insisting that bringing them online is imperative for the economy. Although the government may prevail, many Japanese remain skeptical about nuclear safety.
The public, and the local politicians who control the decisions to restart, are demanding that the government guarantee the safety of each plant. The government says new safety standards and a revamped regulatory regime will address these concerns. For example, reactors are now expected to withstand more severe earthquakes than originally assumed and backup power generators are supposed to be located on higher ground. In addition, a new commission that centralizes all the regulations for nuclear-power plants will be created.
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Takeo Hoshi is the Pacific Economic Cooperation Professor in international economic relations at IR/PS, and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and at the Tokyo Center for Economic Research (TCER). His major research area is the study of the financial aspects of the Japanese economy, especially corporate finance and governance.
