30 September, 2019
MEXT Minister Shares His Hopes with the Press, Seeking to Secure Human Resources Together with Universities
On September 25, Koichi Hagiuda, head of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)—who joined the Cabinet for the first time in Prime Minister Abe’s September 11 reshuffle—held a press conference, at which he expressed his hopes and expectations (photo).
Asked about the development of nuclear-energy human resources within the context of national science and technology policy, he first referred to the positioning of nuclear energy in Japan’s fifth Strategic Energy Plan, saying, “Nuclear power is an important base-load power source . . . contributing to the stability of the energy supply-demand structure in the long term, on the major premise of ensuring of its safety.”
Hagiuda then demonstrated his attitude of wanting to strive to ensure nuclear human resources, saying, “Japan can consider safer uses of nuclear energy all the more because of the nuclear accident that occurred here.” To combat young people’s loss of interest in studying nuclear energy, he added that the country wanted to work with people engaged in the field of education ...more
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4 September, 2019
White Paper on Nuclear Energy Features Decommissioning, Accumulation of Technology as “Great Assets” for the Future
On September 2, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) finalized its White Paper on Nuclear Energy 2018, which was distributed to Cabinet members one day later, at a meeting held on September 3.
The White Paper focuses on the decommissioning and management of nuclear facilities. Domestically, some 24 nuclear reactors in Japan, including Units 1 to 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants, are either undergoing decommissioning or are slated to be decommissioned. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has announced a plan to decommission about half of its nuclear R&D facilities.
With decommissioning thus moving to the forefront across the board, the document introduces leading examples in other countries as positive lessons from which Japan can learn.
Stating that by removing nuclear fuel and radioactive materials, the risks and burdens of managing them are reduced, the document reiterates the positioning of decommissioning in the overall utilization of nuclear power...more
