(Reuters) - A Japanese nuclear power plant has come under fire for trying to sway the outcome of a public forum on atomic safety, dealing a fresh blow to the industry's credibility four months after the world's biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
An employee with Kyushu Electric Power Co instructed workers at the utility and its affiliates to pose as ordinary citizens and send e-mails backing the restart of nuclear reactors in southern Japan to a televised public hearing...........
"I am reflecting deeply on the actions that tried to influence a hearing that should be fair and neutral," Jiji news agency quoted Manabe as telling a senior vice minister for trade and industry. "I apologize to the people."
Analysts say the scandal reflects panic in Japan's atomic power industry, long coddled by political, corporate and regulatory interests dubbed the "nuclear village" but now facing growing anti-nuclear sentiment as workers battle to end the Fukushima crisis.
"There is growing suspicion that power companies are playing fast and loose with data to support their cause and will go so far as to orchestrate public support," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Japan campus.
"The more the media pulls back the veil, the angrier the public is getting." The e-mail scandal has been daily fodder for mainstream media, often accused of being soft on the industry.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/08/us-japan-nuclear-idUSTRE76625H20110708
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