Japan's government has approved bills that could lead to the formation of a new nuclear regulator as soon as April 2012

The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) said today that the government approved the bills "in preparation for nuclear safety regulatory reform". The key element of the planned legislation is the separation of the existing regulator, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Other proposed laws include the integration of nuclear safety regulatory activities from different ministries, and the establishment of a new regulator, to be called the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, as an extraministerial bureau of the Ministry of the Environment.

Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, who is also minister for nuclear accidents, said the new regulatory body will have no involvement with the promotion of nuclear energy and its independence will be guaranteed through third-party oversight by the Nuclear Safety Investigation Commission.

In a report into the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident, Japan announced its intention to create an independent nuclear regulatory body, breaking up METI, which both promotes and regulates nuclear energy.