4 members of gov't nuclear safety team got funding from utilities

And obviously the government knew this ahead of time and still placed them on the board. Just more proof that big business runs the government hacks here.

When are the Japanese people going to get sick and tired of all these shenanigans?

When are the Japanese people going to get sick and tired of all these shenanigans?

never, perhaps they are immune to corruption effects.

They did not "recieve funding". They were bribed

Japan inc at it again. Why the hell do people trust the powers in power?

Japan can be as corrupt as Indonesia. It is just much better at hiding it. Most of the time....

Some probing into how those individuals used that money should be exposed to the public.

@tkoind2

Japan can be as corrupt as Indonesia. It is just much better at hiding it. Most of the time....

People in positions of power and authority in Japan can be as corrupt as those around the world. This is not new. The challenge is to create democratic processes that minimize the chances for this corruption to greatly affect policy. We choose our representatives to regulate on our behalf, but we need to keep a close eye on these people and should never trust them. We probably need an independent and well funded group of investigative citizen journalists to uncover more stories like this.

no surprises

The Nuclear Regulation Authority said that Nagoya University Professor Akio Yamamoto received 27.14 million yen over the past three years for research on reactors.

Over $300,000 in three years. Unbelievable. Japan Inc. knows no shame and the public just sits on its hands and mutters "shoganai" as the evil threesome -- Big Business, Bureaucrats and Politicians -- just keep selling them out. For a society that supposedly values honor and integrity so highly, they have allowed a system that has institutionalized corruption and corruption at its core to run the country for decades. Sad really.

Could it get more obvious?

Now don't let my money influence you, but remember how much I gave you. [Grin] See no conflict of interest at all.

"...raising questions about their neutrality in the wake of last year’s tsunami-triggered disaster."

ONLY in Japan would this 'raise questions' instead of having the people who received funs immediately removed from the agency and possibly jailed for receiving bribes (and no one besides the government is kidding themselves here -- they were bribes!). Well, at least the government is stepping in and investigating and not allowing the people who received bribes to disclose the information of their own volition -- oh wait, that's exactly what the government requested they do!

I can just hear the collective "shou ga nai, ne!" of the people here.

Spudman asks:

Why the hell do people trust the powers in power?

A reasonable question, Spudman, one that any thinking person would ask. But you know, I don't think they do trust the powers in power.

I can't speak for the whole of Japan. but there has been so much of this in Okinawa that Okinawans couldn't care less.

After all, what can we do?

A minor case is allowed into the media. A wrist or two gets slapped. There are threats of going to bed with no supper.

And that's all you hear about it.

I'm not surprised there is so much apathy about this kind of thing.

Yep . There is conflict of interest here.

No news here really,and no one should be shocked nor surprised...Mad as hell yes,but not surprised. This is business as usual in all government agencies, all over the world..I don't think this type of activity well ever cease as big business, with deep pockets, will always be able to buy favor sand influence within governments because those in government leadership positions, or positions of influence, are always going to have their hands out waiting to grab some E Z money.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

As you can see from the responses of "no surprise", it's exactly how the Japanese public thinks.

It is, and probably has been for some time, at the point where it is considered standard practise, and that is why nothing whatsoever is done about it.

Well, that and the shoganai attitude.

Japan: a country with a problem on a grand scale.

Wow! Now I know why they need to raise our electricity bill. It's not for Fukushima residents.

One option might be to add two members to the team chosen by the anti-nuclear groups to provide some balance. However, it seems only fair their expenses should be paid by a fee charged to the industry. Like Zichi said, there may be few people with expertise who haven't worked for the industry. Yet, we also know that the pay for environmentalists who oppose this industry is non-existent. Fair is fair, and it would be an interesting group if affiliations were identified and weighed - opinions vs objective assessment. This industry is not used to sophisticated debate on their technologies, so putting forth an idealistic and open method of assessment might not be welcomed.

And here's a brain teaser: What if the same set of oyajis that selected the safety panel are the same oyajis that signed their checks for the past several years?