The Japan Government will seek to enhance the transparency of its nuclear safety checks introduced in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, such as by disclosing all exchanges between nuclear regulators and plant operators.

The Industry Minister, Mr Yukio Edano, said that the agency will accept questions and requests from the public through e-mails about the so-called “stress test” process.

Under Japan's stress tests, modelled on the nuclear safety reviews conducted in the European Union, utilities basically will study the extent to which key installations would be able to withstand the impact of extreme natural disasters occurring on unexpected scales.

After the first phase of the assessment, the government will decide whether to allow the restart of reactors that are idled for checkups.

The second-stage assessment will determine whether nuclear power plants should remain in operation.

The first phase has already begun, with Kansai Electric Power Co becoming the first utility to report the results of its stress tests on a nuclear reactor to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on October 28.

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