Anti-nuclear researcher to sit on gov't panel on energy policies

[kristopher]

You might remember Edano, former Cabinet Secretary, as the face of the government during the first weeks of the nuclear meltdowns. He is very highly regarded by the public and his assumption of the METI portfolio marks a strong deviation in the trajectory of that ministry. The proof of the pudding is, however, in the eating. We'll see if he lives up to the hopes placed on him, but this is a good sign.

Anti-nuclear researcher to sit on gov't panel on energy policies

Tetsunari Iida (Mainichi)

A researcher who is calling for a decrease in Japan's reliance on nuclear power will be appointed to a government panel to review the country's energy policies, officials said.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will name Tetsunari Iida, head of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, as a member of a subcommittee on basic energy policy set up under the Advisory Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. However, the ministry did not appoint anybody representing energy industries, including the electric power industry, to the subcommittee.

Also among its 25 members are Ritsumeikan University professor Kenichi Oshima and others critical of Japan's nuclear power policy as well as Osaka University visiting professor Tatsuo Hatta, who has called for a split of power suppliers into power generating and power transmitting firms. The panel will be headed by Akio Mimura, chairman of Nippon Steel Corp.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano said he selected the panel members to enable well-balanced discussions on overall energy policies.

The panel will...
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110927p2a00m0na009000c.html