英字新聞

失敗学で反省するのは大切ですがほどほどに。
それよりクリーンエネルギーの開発や徐放射線技術の開発に力をいれたほうがよい。
（スラチャイ記）

2011/05/27
--The Asahi Shimbun, May 26, 2011
EDITORIAL: Neutral, powerful panels needed to investigate Fukushima accident
原発・東電調査―もっと権限を与えよ

A prominent expert in the study of failures has been tapped to probe a colossal crisis management failure.
　失敗学の大家が、途方もない「大失敗」の真相に迫る。

The government chose Yotaro Hatamura, a University of Tokyo professor emeritus of engineering, to head a committee that will soon be appointed to investigate into the disastrous accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
　政府は、福島第一原発の事故調査・検証委員会をつくる。委員長は、東京大学名誉教授の工学者、畑村洋太郎さんだ。

The study of failures advocated by Hatamura is aimed at preventing major accidents by disclosing all the facts about small system failures, whatever they may be.
　畑村さんが唱える「失敗学」は、どんなシステムであれ、小さな失敗の経緯を包み隠さず明らかにすることで大事故を防ごうという立場をとる。

This time, Hatamura's mission is to inquire into a huge accident after the fact.
　今回は、すでに巨大事故が起こった後ではある。

Still, scrutinizing the Fukushima disaster from Hatamura's viewpoint can contribute greatly to efforts to prevent similar crises at nuclear power plants around the world.
それでも国内外の原発で同じような災害を起こさせないために、畑村流の視点で調べる意義は大きい。

What is crucial for getting to the bottom of the accident is to make sure that all relevant facts are revealed.
　解明への鍵は「包み隠さず」だ。

The success of the investigation hinges on whether the people involved will tell the truth while offering information that could threaten their positions or interests.
関係者が都合の悪い資料も出して、事実を語るかどうか。

The way the investigation panel works, as described by the government, raises concerns about this point.
政府が発表した事故調のしくみに心配がある。

There is no existent law that directly requires people involved to respond to the panel's requests for interviews or the submission of materials.
　聴取や資料提出への協力を義務づける直接の法律がない。

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has said government employees who refuse to cooperate with the panel can be disciplined punishment under the law governing their profession. But that is not enough.
協力しない政府関係者は「公務員法上の懲戒の対象になり得る」（枝野幸男官房長官）というだけでは心もとない。

This issue is particularly important for the investigation because the panel will have to deal with the so-called "nuclear power village," a community of people with vested interests in promoting nuclear energy bound closely together by mutual dependence.
　とりわけ今回は、向き合う相手が同じ分野で強固にもたれあう「原子力村」である。

The President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, the investigation panel set up by U.S. President Jimmy Carter after the 1979 accident at the nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, tried to examine the disaster from a position independent of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
　１９７９年の米国スリーマイル島原発事故で設けられた大統領委員会は、原子力規制委員会のさらに外側で事故を検証しようとした。

But the panel was apparently dependent on the country's nuclear power community for necessary data.
だが必要なデータはどうしても「原子力村」頼みになったらしい。

The Japan Transport Safety Board, which conducts investigations into airplane and train accidents, has strong investigative powers under the law enacted to establish the entity.
　航空機や列車などの事故を調べる運輸安全委員会は、設置法で強い力が与えられている。

New legislation should be enacted to give sufficient power and independence to the panel tasked with inquiring into the devastating accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station.
これだけの大事故だ。今回の事故調には独立性と調査権限を保障する法律をつくるべきだ。

The panel's members should include competent and influential people recruited from outside the nuclear power village.
　委員には「村外」から有能で強力な人材を集めなくてはならない。

It would be a good idea to seek opinions from overseas experts and get critics of nuclear power generation involved in the probe.
海外からも専門家の見解を得る。原発に批判的な専門家も参加してもらう。

Such outsiders would help pressure people in the village to cooperate with the efforts to uncover the truth.
そんな工夫も求められる。「村」の人々がどれほど解明に協力するか。そのにらみを利かす役割である。

The separate committee in charge of examining the management and financial health of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., should also be given strong powers.
　強い権限が必要なのは、東電の経営や財務内容を調べる委員会も同じだ。

This committee's mission is to ferret out waste in the utility's management as well as its disposable assets in order to secure as much money as possible for compensation for damages caused by the accident. The panel will face many big obstacles to accomplish its goals.
　賠償原資をできるだけ多くするために、経営の無駄や処分できる資産を洗い出すのが目的だが、多くの困難がある。

Companies have a general tendency to conceal or try to avoid revealing information unfavorable to them.
　ただでさえ企業は自分たちの不利になる情報を隠したり、出し渋ったりしがちだ。

In addition, electric power companies farm out a wide range of tasks and operations to other firms.
加えて電力会社の場合、外注が多い。

To get the whole picture of an electric utility's operation, it is necessary to require its many layers of subcontractors to disclose relevant information.
実態を把握するためには、何層にもわたる下請け企業にも情報開示を求めなければなるまい。

The work to assess Tepco's ability to pay compensation requires a group of experienced lawyers and accountants skilled in negotiating with businesses.
　査定では、経験が豊かで企業との交渉力にたけた弁護士や会計士を集める必要がある。

The government is facing two important challenges concerning the Fukushima disaster: learning necessary lessons from what happened to prevent future nuclear disasters and ensuring swift and fair compensation for the damage caused by the accident.
　未来の災厄を防ぎ、公平な賠償を早く進める。

The success of efforts to tackle these two challenges depends on whether a neutral and powerful panel will be created for each.
いずれも、中立で強力な委員会を築けるかどうかが成否を分ける。