TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan sacked three senior bureaucrats in charge of nuclear power policy on Thursday, holding them to account for a series of scandals which have broken out in recent weeks over the government's cozy relationship with the power industry.
Japanese Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, who oversees energy policy, said he plans to replace three senior officials in the ministry following the crisis at the Fukushima power plant, the world's worst nuclear disaster in 25 years.
The three officials are Kazuo Matsunaga, the top bureaucrat at the trade ministry, Nobuaki Terasaka, head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and Tetsuhiro Hosono, head of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.