To Stop Administrative Extravagant

Administrative Reform Promotion Council, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, had an open meeting for verification of Administrative Project Review on Wednesday. The council recommended Japan Atomic Energy Agency to consider future options, including disuse of a ship for transporting used nuclear fuel, which had mostly been unused these years. In the meeting, a number of administrative extravagances were exposed to criticisms.

JAEA built in 2006 a ship named Kaiei-maru to transport used nuclear fuel produced from an advanced thermal reactor, Fugen, which ceased its operation in 2003 and had been left to be dismantled. Although Japanese government poured ¥10 billion to the ship so far, it operated for transportation only four times. The ship has not used, since November 2011.

Kaiei-maru had been moored for 342 days in the Port of Muroran, Hokkaido, last fiscal year. It actually left the port for only four times to have maintenance. Although it has only been the ship for the purpose in Japan, Kaiei-maru lost its raison d’être as Fugen was in the process of dismantlement and new fast-breeder reactor, Monju, had been hopeless. “We cannot spend money for a project unexplainable to the people,” told Minister in Charge of Administrative Reform, Taro Kono, in the meeting on Wednesday.

Projects related to nuclear energy became direct targets in the review. Subsidy for building new nuclear power generation plant in Oma, Aomori, by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry was also criticized as inefficient. The plant has been recognized as being to be the first facility in the world to use mixed oxide fuel in every reactor. While METI has spent ¥29 billion to support its technological development since 1996, only 4% of the money from national budget was actually used. The council required the operating body, J Power, to return the money unspent.

However, the review is not a project that determines the fate of administrative projects, which method was once employed in the administration of Democratic Party of Japan. Ministries will voluntarily decide which project should be continued or killed. While Kono has been regarded as a prominent reformer in Liberal Democratic Party, it is unclear whether he can suppress resistance from bureaucracy for continuing past projects.

Abe administration has not been so positive in administrative reform. For his political agenda, including advanced military capability, Abe has been appropriating a great amount of money from national budget. It is not Kono, but Prime Minister, who has to be the reformist leader for saving tax money.