The Financial Times reports that the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, a government safety agency established in September 2012, has “unveiled strict new safety measures on Monday to protect atomic facilities against natural disasters and terrorist attacks.” The new “draft rules, which are to be finalized in July [of this year], are likely to present electric utilities with fresh hurdles to clear before they can restart nuclear plants that have been idled since the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power station nearly two years ago.”

The Financial Times article notes that some of the proposed upgrades “include a requirement to outfit plants with back-up control rooms away from reactor buildings, install new pressure vents capable of filtering out radioactive gases, and reinforce protective structures to withstand the impact of a jet airliner should one be used in a terrorist attack.” The article also quotes Shunichi Tanaka, the head of the Authority, as also “pushing for a more cautious evaluation of earthquake faults under atomic facilities.”

Currently, only two of the country’s 50 nuclear power stations are operating because of safety concerns following the events of March 2011.