Naoto Kan, Japanese prime minister, has called for a fundamental overhaul of the country’s nuclear power regulation, following failings exposed by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant.
The review, announced at a press conference on Wednesday, marks a new stage in the Japanese government’s efforts to rebuild domestic and international confidence in the nation’s large nuclear power sector.
Fukushima Daiichi’s cooling systems were knocked out by the huge earthquake and tsunami that battered Japan’s north-east coast on March 11. Many analysts say ineffective oversight was a major contributory factor to the world’s biggest nuclear crisis in 25 years.