Lawyers

• IAEA suggests Japanese government to amend nuclear safety law

  In an inspection to the Japanese regulatory body for nuclear safety, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggested Japan to strengthen staff competency in its nuclear power plants and amend the country's nuclear safety law.

• Exit now, pay later: Germany's rushed farewell to nuclear power

  When Chancellor Angela Merkel called up the boss of Germany's biggest power producer RWE two days after the first explosion at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, there was no mention of a u-turn in her energy policy.

• Japan's nuclear regulator says no repeat of Fukushima under new safety rules - media

  Japan's nuclear regulator said an accident on the scale of the 2011 Fukushima disaster would not occur under new safety rules imposed on reactors such as Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai No.1, set to be the first to restart since Fukushima, Japan's Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

• Japan approves increase in Fukushima compensation to $57 billion

  Japan on Tuesday approved an increase in compensation payments for the Fukushima crisis to 7.07 trillion yen ($57.18 billion), as tens of thousands of evacuees remain in temporary housing more than four years after the disaster.

• Japan takes South Korea to WTO over Fukushima-related food import restrictions

  Japan launched a trade complaint at the World Trade Organization on Thursday to challenge South Korea's import bans and additional testing requirements for Japanese food after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

• Japanese man arrested for landing drone on PM's office in nuclear protest

  A Japanese man has been arrested for landing a drone on the prime minister's office with a minuscule amount of radiation in an apparent protest against the use of nuclear power, four years after the Fukushima disaster.

• Japan court halts restart of two reactors in blow to nuclear sector

  A Japanese court on Tuesday issued an injunction to prevent the restart of two reactors citing safety concerns, in a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to return to atomic energy four years after the Fukushima crisis.

• Japan nuclear regulator 'very close' to end of review: commissioner

  Japan's atomic regulator is "very close" to finishing its review of two reactors in southern Japan that are slated to be the first to restart under new rules introduced since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, one of its commissioners told Reuters.

• Radiation from Fukushima disaster newly detected off Canada's coast

  Radiation from Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has for the first time been detected along a North American shoreline, though at levels too low to pose a significant threat to human or marine life, scientists said on Monday.

• Japanese man arrested for sending boy to help Fukushima clean-up

  Japanese police arrested a businessman on Wednesday for sending a 15-year-old boy to help clean up radioactive waste outside the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

• Prosecutors won't indict former Tepco executives over Fukushima disaster: media

  Japanese prosecutors will likely decide again not to indict three former Tokyo Electric Power Co executives over their handling of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, media reported on Friday, but a rarely used citizen's panel could still force an indictment.

• Seoul prosecutors investigate data leak at nuclear plant operator

  Seoul prosecutors have launched an investigation of a leak of non-critical data at South Korea's nuclear power operator, the prosecutors' office said on Sunday, as worries mount about nuclear safety and potential cyberattacks from North Korea.

• Fukushima workers still in murky labor contracts: Tepco survey

  The number of workers at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant on false contracts has increased in the last year, the station operator said, highlighting murky labor conditions at the site despite a pledge to improve the work environment.

• Japanese PM Abe's public support slumps in wake of resignations: Yomiuri poll

  Public approval of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government slumped after the resignation of two high-profile cabinet ministers last week, according to a poll published on Sunday, adding more pressure on Abe as he struggles to turn around the Japanese economy.

• Japan's Obuchi: Political 'princess' could be first female PM

  With a telegenic presence, powerful ruling party mentors and a talent for avoiding making political enemies, Japan's new trade and industry minister, Yuko Obuchi, may have what it takes to become the country's first female prime minister.

• Japanese regulator approves restart of first nuclear reactors

  Japan's nuclear regulator gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for the restart of a nuclear power station, the first step to reopening an industry that was mothballed after the Fukushima disaster and which may involve the definitive closure of a dozen old plants.

• Fukushima workers sue Tepco over unpaid wages, reliance on contractors

  A group of Fukushima workers on Wednesday sued Tokyo Electric for unpaid wages in a potentially precedent-setting legal challenge to the utility and its reliance on contractors to shut down a nuclear plant destroyed by the industry's worst accident since Chernobyl.

• Fukushima court rules against nuclear operator in suicide suit

  A Japanese court has ruled that Fukushima nuclear operator Tokyo Electric was responsible for a woman's suicide after the March 2011 disaster and must pay compensation, in a landmark ruling that could set a precedent for other claims against the utility.