Japan Press Weekly

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2011 April 6 - 12 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Pro-nuclear ministry’s bureaucrats become TEPCO’s vice chair

The office of vice president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is a seat reserved for retired high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the former Ministry of International Trade and Industry, a promoter of nuclear power generation.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Shiokawa Tetsuya recently revealed this based on his survey.

This highlights the importance of establishing an independent regulatory body for nuclear safety outside the administrative body promoting nuclear power generation.

Former Director-General of the METI Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Ishida Toru has been serving as an advisor to TEPCO since January 1, 2011.

According to Shiokawa, retired high level METI bureaucrats have gotten executive posts at TEPCO since the 1960s.

Until the National Public Service Law was adversely revised in 2007, it banned the bureaucratic practice of retired officials gaining executive positions in corporations under the control of government authorities, the so-called practice of “Amakudari”. However, the ban was limited to within two years after their retirement.

METI’s high-ranking retirees used to spend two years as executives of other private companies like banks before joining the board of TEPCO.

The revised National Public Service Law lifted the ban and instead prohibits ministries from brokering high corporate positions for their retired officials.

The Kan Cabinet claims that the ex-METI officials joining the TEPCO board is not “Amakudari” because the ministry did not offer them executive positions.

Shiokawa stated, “High-ranking ministry officials must be banned from being awarded executive positions in corporations that were supervised by their ministries after retirement.”