Japan nuke industry donated millions to safety regulator
Why? Because, and I quote, the agency "is on the industrys back...
But don't worry, the nuclear industry everywhere else in the world is a collegial scientific body; only in Japan has it descended to crass commercialism that exemplifies corporate greed. Surely you've heard that "what happened in Japan could never happen here".
Power industry donated millions to influential research agency
April 02, 2012
The electric power industry donated 250 million yen ($3 million) to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency over four years, including 55.1 million yen after the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant last year.
The agency, which sends many of its officials to the nations nuclear regulatory bodies, disclosed the amount of donations in the four years through fiscal 2011 following a request from The Asahi Shimbun.
Donations to nuclear-related organizations and local governments that host nuclear facilities are reflected on electricity rates. But electric power companies have not released even the total amount of donations they make.
For decades, the electric power industry has made donations to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, an independent administrative agency under the jurisdiction of the science ministry, according to a former executive at the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan....
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201204020042