2026 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 260-285
The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has been conducting an examination related to the safety measures of nuclear power plants as an independent decision-making body. In response to Hokkaido Electric Power Company’s application in 2013 for the examination on conformity to the new regulatory standards for Tomari Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3, the NRA has announced that the examination is a “pass” in July 2025. In this report we analyzed and evaluated all contents presented at the examination over the past 12-years and publicly available through the internet, from a physical geographical view. Our conclusion is that the identification and interpretation of facts related to active faults and volcanoes are not appropriately evaluated due to a lack of consideration of landform development in Quaternary period in terms of environmental changes and chronology. The reasons are that the NRA is lacking in experts for physical geography area, and it has no effective supplementary system to the insufficient expertise, such as consultation with external specialists. These have resulted in scientifically inappropriate conclusions for current examination outcomes. In addition, possible political pressures could not be ruled out during the prolonged examination process, thus we have to point out the importance of ensuring the neutrality, scientific rigor, and public transparency in the examination process.
