5 January, 2021
New Year’s Greeting by JAIF Chairman Imai
I hope that all of you had a good holiday. Since last year, the covid-19 pandemic has caused the cancellation or postponement of countless scheduled events, among which was JAIF’s cancellation of its annual New Year’s Party this season. Globally, vaccinations are now being administered in some countries, and I look forward to an environment where business can be pursued again safely as soon as possible.
Recently, beyond the “normal” mix of natural disasters, we have seen an increasing frequency of torrential rains, longer spells of rain, and more flooding, all as a result of increased humidity due to rising seawater temperatures. Reducing greenhouse-gas emissions (GHGs), deemed a major factor in the current situation, is thus vitally important. Last year, the Suga government of Japan de...more
- 3 April, 2019 Fostering Nuclear Human Resources Requires Continual Effort, Says JAIF President
- 8 March, 2019 Memories and Studies
- 10 October, 2018 The Implications of Removing the “Sun Child” Statue in Fukushima
- 22 February, 2018 We All Live Inside the “Boundary” of Fukushima
- 26 September, 2017 Responsibility for Explaining the Unknowable
- 7 June, 2017 Scientists’ Feeling of Happiness, Relative to People’s Image of Fukushima
- 28 February, 2017 The Pitfalls of Risk Communication in Fukushima
- 29 September, 2016 Reaching a Common Ground on Thyroid Gland Screening
- 12 July, 2016 Do Not Lose the True Meaning of Restoration
- 11 March, 2016 Fukushima’s Image Being Warped by Search Engines: A Recipe to Battle against the Deficiency of Information
- 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
5 February, 2020
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
