physics

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency rather than just read about it. In short: The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) (原子力安全・保安院, Genshiryoku Anzen Hoanin) was a Japanese nuclear regulatory and oversight branch of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). It was created in 2001 during the 2001 Central Government Reform.

Key takeaways

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) (原子力安全・保安院, Genshiryoku Anzen Hoanin) was a Japanese nuclear regulatory and oversight branch of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). It was created in 2001 during the 2001 Central Government Reform. Especially after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, NISA was criticized as having a conflict of interest, given that it was part of METI, which is also responsible for promoting nuclear power. As a consequence, it was decided on June 20, 2012 that NISA would be abolished and that it would be replaced by a new agency, under the Ministry of the Environment in September 2012. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) was founded on September 19, 2012. The NISA, and now NRA, main office is located in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo working with the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission (JAEA) as well as providing other functions. The safety authority also has regional offices. It performs oversight for industry as requested by the Japanese government.

Criticism and reform

According to a government report to the International Atomic Energy Agency in June 2011, "NISA's lack of independence from the trade ministry, which promotes the use of atomic power, hampered a quick response to the disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant this year". Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, there have been questions raised about whether the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been fulfilling its function as an industry regulator, and whether it should continue to exist. The Asahi newspaper reported that the government planned to merge the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency with the Nuclear Safety Commission, to create a new nuclear safety agency, under the environment ministry, by April 2012. On August 5, 2011, then Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Banri Kaieda announced that an independent panel had started to examine the allegations that NISA repeatedly tried to influence public symposiums on the use of nuclear energy. This came after the confessions of the electric power companies Chubu and Shikoku, that they both had—on instructions by NISA—lined up participants and requested that they ask prearranged questions in favor of nuclear power. The panel would also find out whether other companies might be involved in likewise dubious conduct. The task force was asked to propose a set of guidelines on to what extent the government should be involved in organizing public symposiums. In an attempt to clean up and to ease the media, Kaieda announced he would sack three senior nuclear policy officials: the head of the Energy Agency, the head of the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency and a vice-minister at the trade and industry ministry. "We want to refresh and revitalise the ministry," Kaieda said. The three posts are under his supervision. On Friday 12 August 2011, the Japanese Cabinet decided to separate the NISA from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, because the ministry was too much involved with promoting nuclear energy. The new nuclear watchdog would function directly under the Ministry of the Environment. This was done as part of efforts to review the country's current nuclear administration following the Fukushima nuclear accident. At the same time NISA will merge with the Nuclear Safety Commission, that until that moment functioned under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Education and Science. The Environment Ministry had been involved already in the disposal of radiation-contaminated debris around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The new agency was originally to be launched in April 2012. Documents, obtained by a major Japanese newspaper, The Mainichi Daily News, after many official information requests, showed that the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) copied an inspection manual from an original provided by a supplier of fuel-rods: Global Nuclear Fuel Japan Co. This very company was subject to JNES investigations. The faulty manual was copied almost completely, even the layout was not altered, and the errors in it were missed. At first JNES deputy head of inspections Masaharu Kudo told the newspaper: "we do receive data (from Global Nuclear Fuel), but of course we don't use it as-is. The JNES checks the data and produces its own manual as well." After two official requests the newspaper received the originals the JNES manual and the documents of Global Nuclear Fuel document, Kudo did admit that the documents were indeed identical, but he could see any problem, because JNES and the nuclear fuel firm need to consult each other about the inspection procedures. "The JNES would have no access to the necessary data without the nuclear fuel maker, so we ask them to cooperate," Kudo continued. "It wouldn't be impossible for the JNES to draw up the manuals independently, but if we tried we'd be at it all day." The inspection procedures were obtained from Global Nuclear Fuel in September 2008, and on 18 December 2009 JNES inspected the fuel that was meant for the Higashidori nuclear plant, the manual used was copied directly from the Global Nuclear Fuel documents. Furthermore, JNES staff noticed later that the minimum fuel rod length already reported to the government was 3 to 5 centimeters longer than the value listed in both the inspection manual and the Global Nuclear Fuel draft procedures. The staff had not looked into the manual, but compared the rod with another rod, before all rods were certified. In February 2009 the error in the manual was found. Just before the certification was reported to the government. Later JNES found that it had made the same mistake three times before with the inspections of fuel-rods produced by Global Nuclear Fuel. The examiners failed to notice the mistakes as they did not closely check the manual beforehand. NISA said JNES was ordered to make the corrections needed and also to improve its screening procedures. On November 4, 2011 the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) said, that an independent committee would be formed to investigate how the inspection protocols were compiled. This commission would be selected form legal experts, known for a cautious approach to nuclear policies. The more than 5 members were asked to make a report and finish it by the end of 2011. Other facts to be looked into:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency

In research: Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Nuclear regulatory organizations, Nuclear safety in Japan, Nuclear technology organizations of Japan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in simple terms?

Why does Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.