Japan’s Nuclear Crisis: the Routes to Responsibility

Abstract

Japan’s nuclear energy program began in 1954 with the objective of developing an energy source that supplied the country’s growing need for electricity. The Atomic Energy Basic Law, proposed by Prime Minister Yasujiro Nakasone, was enacted in 1955 which called for independent, democratic and transparent activities in nuclear research. Former Lower House representative Matsutaro Shoriki also played a major role in the promotion of nuclear energy. Shoriki, who was also the owner of the Yomiuri Shimbun, was the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, which was founded in 1956 to promote nuclear energy power development and the use of nuclear fuel. Nakasone succeeded Shiori as the second chairman. The United States fully supported the introduction of nuclear in Japan as an integral part of its global strategy.