Protest against the appointment of Tokyo University's Professor Tanaka Satoru
to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) Committee
On July 12 2014, Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan and representatives from the German state ofRheinland--Pfalz co-hosted a symposium in Tokyo. On the same day, the Japanese network of mayors
decided to issue the below emergency statement.
The Japanese Government has appointed Professor Tanaka Satoru of the Tokyo University School ofEngineering to a committee member position in the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), attempting to have
Professor Tanaka take up this position effective from September of this year.
However, this appointment infringes on the conditions for disqualification of eligibility as determined by theJapanese Government, and contravenes Article 1 (aims) of the Act for Establishment of the Nuclear
Regulation Authority: “The Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman and Committee Members will exercise
their authority from from a position of neutrality and fairness, based on expert knowledge.” We muststrongly point out that there is a threat that the Committee will lose a great deal of its credibility as a result of
this decision.
Upon the establishment of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the Japanese Government on July 3, 2012
issued a set of guidelines entitled “Requisites for the Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman and Committee
Members.” Within the legal particulars of these guidelines are included the following: “Any person who has
held a position in or been employed in the nuclear industry or an associated organisation within the three
years immediately before their appointment to the board”, or “any person who has received financial
remunerations above a certain amount in a personal capacity from members of the nuclear industry within
the three years immediately before their appointment to the board” are disqualified from eligibility forappointment to the board.
Professor Tanaka held a position at the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum Inc. from 2011-2012, which is listedby the NRA as a nuclear energy-related organisation. Furthermore, Professor Tanaka received in excess of
the 500,000 yen limit in financial remunerations within one year from the Tokyo Electric Power CompanyFoundation (2011) as well as donations from Hitachi GE New Nuclear Energy (2011, 600,000 yen) andTaiheiyo Consultant (2011, 500,000 yen). These documented cases are a clear infringement of the guidelines
mentioned above.
Recent reporting on July 5 by the Asahi Shimbun also uncovered that Professor Tanaka was receiving
remunerations up until the first half of this year from Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL), a company
responsible for the nuclear fuel cycle, and nuclear power plant maker Mitsubishi FBR Systems.
Terms for immediate disqualification from eligibility as listed in the guidelines were determined inaccordance with Diet proceedings, and the appointment process of an advisory committee member wasoutlined to the Joint House Steering Committee. The revision or modification of such guidelines would
necessitate a reasonable justification, yet the Japanese Government has been unable to rationalize Professor
Tanaka’s exemption from these terms.
As heads of local governments responsible for the wellbeing of our residents’ livelihood and safety, we
cannot in good conscience condone the commission of a candidate who violates the terms of appointment
without losing considerable confidence in the credibility of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. As such, we
express to the Japanese Government our firm opposition to the commission of Professor Tanaka.

July 12, 2014
Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan