TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will set up a new nuclear regulator around September under a law approved by parliament's lower house on Friday after months of delay as part of a drive to improve safety and restore public trust after the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.
The 2011 Fukushima disaster cast a harsh spotlight on the cozy ties between regulators, politicians and utilities - known as Japan's "nuclear village" - that experts say were a major factor in the failure to avert the crisis triggered when a huge earthquake and tsunami devastated the plant, causing meltdowns.