The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency plans to rate Japan's nuclear power plants for safety to better monitor risk-prone plants and reduce inspection costs.
The new policy direction marks a turning point in the agency's safety monitoring system, which previously had given equal weight to all nuclear plants. Under the new policy, all plants will be rated in terms of their operating performance, including the number of failures at reactors and radiation management. Those rated at the lower end of the scale will be subject to focused monitoring, while those with higher ratings will receive a minimum of inspections.
