3.11 as an Opportunity for Change

Abstract

This chapter examines nuclear policy and regulatory governance reforms after the 2011 nuclear accident delivered a shock to Japan's energy system. Comparing the successful reform of nuclear safety regulation, a critical juncture, with the aborted initiative to phase out nuclear power, a so-called near miss, this chapter tests two hypotheses about alternative ideas and policy entrepreneurs' power as change mechanisms. The chapter first looks at how the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government, domestic experts, the public, international actors such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and even the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) consolidated around the idea of a more independent nuclear safety administration and succeeded in pushing through reforms. The chapter argues that the DPJ government helped designated NRA board members and senior officials bring their vision of an independent agency to life before the LDP returned to government. The chapter then analyzes how the nuclear village was able to defend its pronuclear policy in the absence of international pressure and because the DPJ government as a political entrepreneur was divided over whether to phase out nuclear power. As the chapter reveals, that convergence of collective political entrepreneurs around one idea is crucial because it can increase their power to shape reforms.