Japan Institute for National Fundamentals

　　　　　In this year 2016, Japan must look at realities and become a strong country that can defend itself on its own. Regarding energy, security, economy, values and other matters that constitute a country, Japan has been plagued with problems that it can resolve with its power apparently because it has failed to fully recognize the current situation.

A typical case is nuclear energy administration
　　　　　Nuclear energy administration represents a typical case where Japan has plunged into dire straits due to an unrealistic ideological approach on safety. Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear power station in Kagoshima Prefecture has been forced to submit 400,000 pages of documents to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart its reactors. More than 500 nuclear experts accounting for a little more than 50% of the utility’s experts took several months to prepare the documents that are piled as high as 60 meters or a 20-story building.
　　　　　In fact, very unreasonable documentation is a bad habit that has continued for decades in Japan’s nuclear energy administration. But the nuclear energy administration, while requiring business operators to prepare massive documents, has failed to prevent the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident on March 11, 2011. So, Japan should have fundamentally reformed its approach on safety regulations. But the NRA, created in response to the Fukushima accident, has even enhanced the traditional bad habit. As a result, Kyushu Electric was required to prepare 400,000 pages of documents. Furthermore, the NRA has uniformly applied unreasonable regulatory standards to all nuclear facilities.
　　　　　Eventually, the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute has been forced to suspend the Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), a cutting-edge cancer therapy using neutrons. The Kinki University Atomic Energy Research Institute has also been forced to halt education for students. It now leases a laboratory of South Korea’s Kyung Hee University for education.
　　　　　The Kinki University institute’s facility has output of only 1 watt to power a miniature bulb. Nevertheless, the NRA requires the tiny facility to conform to the same strict standards as those for commercial nuclear reactors with output of hundreds of megawatts regarding earthquakes, tornados, terrorist attacks, active faults and other matters. An organization of experts should be created as early as possible to monitor the NRA that is bound by the word of “nuclear” and unable to decide what are required or not required for the 1-watt nuclear facility.
　
Any ideological approach cannot address harsh realities
　　　　　NRA officials’ ideological approach is similar to that of those who opposed national security bills enacted last September and branded them as war law. Given realities of the international community, however, the opposition is meaningless. In preparation for turning the South China Sea into its military fortress, China conducted a test flight using a 3,000-meter runway built on the Spratly Islands on January 2. Late last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a ceremony to demonstrate the biggest reform of military forces since the founding of communist China to integrally operate the army, navy and air force, posing a challenge to the U.S.-led international order.
　　　　　China now makes no secret of its ambitions. Japan is a country that would undergo the threats of such China most severely and widely over the longest term. Japan should look at the harsh realities and amend its Constitution as early as possible.
　　　　　This year, our Japan Institute for National Fundamentals would like to strictly watch realities and communicate its views to the public as necessary.

Yoshiko Sakurai is President, Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.