Tokyo ( CNN ) -- Japan 's nuclear safety agency will be placed under the control of the country 's Environment Ministry , a top government official announced Monday in a move stemming from the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant . Japanese regulators have been accused of being too cozy with the nuclear industry in the years before the March disaster at Fukushima Daiichi , the worst nuclear accident in a quarter-century . Monday 's decision will take the day-to-day regulation of nuclear plants out from under the Ministry of the Economy , Trade and Industry , which has promoted the use of nuclear energy , Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said . The plan is to merge the existing Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency with the Nuclear Safety Commission , a largely advisory body . The new agency should be up and running by April and `` will see to it that everything is done clearly , '' Edano said . The agency has been tentatively designated the Nuclear Safety Agency , but Edano said he and other Cabinet members hope to add the word `` regulatory '' to the name before long . `` This agency will be handling regulation , and that is why regulation should be included in the name , '' he said . Japan has launched a sweeping review of nuclear power since the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi , which has displaced more than 100,000 nearby residents . Engineers are still working to restore normal cooling in the three reactors that melted down after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami , and to pump out and decontaminate an estimated 100,000 tons of water that has pooled in the basements and service tunnels of the plant during five months of emergency measures .
Day-to-day nuclear regulation will be placed under the Environment Ministry . The government has also announced that it plans to set up a new agency for atomic energy and radioactive waste management. The decision follows the March nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi .