Interview with Two Experts: Former UKAEA Chair Says “Political Intentions Exist Behind Unfounded Fears and Rumors”

Atoms in Japan (AIJ) conducted an exclusive interview with two experts during their recent visits to Japan: Lady Barbara Judge, former chair of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and deputy chairman of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, an external expert committee monitoring efforts by TEPCO toward nuclear safety reform, and Professor Richard Lester of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Saying that “safety culture is nearly sufficient” at TEPCO, Judge expressed her view that the power company had reached the point of being able to operate its nuclear power plants (NPPs) safely. Meanwhile, Lester gave high marks to Japan’s nuclear technology, adding that he expected the country would play an international role in the area of innovation, which could result in resolving global climate change issues. ——To continually improve safety, it is necessary to accumulate results in safe operation. At many NPPs in Japan, however, the national regulatory authority for safety examinations has carried out endless procedures before allowing them to resume operation, creating the current situation in which operational experience and safe operational results cannot be accumulated. Under s...more

3 April, 2019

Fostering Nuclear Human Resources Requires Continual Effort, Says JAIF President

On March 28, President Akio Takahashi of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) gave his monthly press briefing, at which he outlined what went on at the recent "Presentations by the Atomic Industry 2020" (PAI).

The PAI was held in Tokyo on March 3 and in Osaka on March 6, jointly sponsored by JAIF and Kan Gen Kon (Kansai Genshiryoku Kondankai), an association of nuclear-related organizations in the Kansai region (centered in Osaka). A combined total of eighty companies and organizations (forty-six in Tokyo and thirty-four in Osaka) participated this year, eight more than in the previous year. Although the number of participating entities in the PAI seminar had dropped after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi in March 11, 2011, it has increased yearly since 2013. Commenting on those numbers, President Takahashi noted, “All companies seem to be struggling to secure the necessary human resources. At the same time, the recognition of the seminar has grown.” On the other hand, while the n...more
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• 22 January, 2016 [Remembrances] An Outpouring of Sadness at the Death of Akihiro Sawa, Who Was at the Heart of Efforts to Rebuild Energy Policy
• 11 December, 2015 “Do you understand the difference between science and technology?”
• 2 September, 2015 Moving Beyond the First Fifty Years of Normalized Relations between South Korea and Japan: Cooperation in the Field of Nuclear Energy
• 10 June, 2015 Contributions by Japan’s Team in IAEA’s Nuclear Energy Educational Activities for Secondary Schools

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