In a few days, a decade will have passed since the giant earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan in March 2011, followed by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants, belonging to the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). Reflecting upon the arduous journey traveled since then\u2014starting with the confusion during the accident\u2019s aftermath, down to the present day\u2014I would like to take this opportunity once again to express my profound respect and gratitude for the valuable efforts and\u00a0 laborious pain of the many people engaged in the recovery and rebirth of Fukushima so far.<\/p>\n
During the past year\u2014the tenth year since the earthquake disaster\u2014various milestones have been passed toward the region\u2019s reconstruction, including the restoration of service to all closed-down sections of the JR Joban Line, and the partial lifting of evacuation orders in Okuma and Futaba Towns, among others. Going forward, efforts are expected to accelerate toward the creation of suitable living conditions\u2014medical care, education, and public infrastructure\u2014and the renaissance of local industry.<\/p>\n
We at JAIF, operating under the belief that nuclear energy in Japan has no future without the recovery of Fukushima, have striven to support the region\u2019s recovery along with our group members and organizations. In the future as well, we will continue to support fine-tuned activities \u201cwith our ear to the ground,\u201d so to speak, including issuing various pieces of information enabling people in Japan and around the world to understand Fukushima\u2019s current status correctly.<\/p>\n
Turning next to the issue of Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning, significant steps have been taken toward creating a work environment and removing spent fuel, with preparations and R&D progressing on the removal of fuel debris. From now on, it will be important to advance decommissioning steadily by rallying the world\u2019s wisdom and knowledge, while putting top priority on safety.<\/p>\n
Specialists and other related persons will be consulted during deliberations as to the proper disposal methods for treated water, including that stored in on-site tanks after having been removed by multi-nuclide removal equipment (ALPS). Still, we must solidly address the anxiety felt by people in Japan and abroad toward the situation, patiently offering repeated explanations based on scientific evidence, as we attempt to alleviate their concerns.<\/p>\n
We at JAIF will continue to collaborate with various related organizations overseas, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), along with the nuclear industries of the countries concerned, as we strive to deliver accurate information to domestic and foreign audiences, and to dispel unfounded rumors.<\/p>\n
We in the nuclear industry must reflect on the Fukushima Daiichi accident and learn its lessons thoroughly as we firmly pledge never to allow it to recur, through our unwavering efforts to improve safety. Moreover, by demonstrating how nuclear energy can contribute not just to Japan but also the world, emphasizing its environment-friendliness, economy, and stable supply, we aim to restore everyone\u2019s trust in it once again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a few days, a decade will have passed since the giant earthquake and tsunami that struck eastern Japan in March 2011, followed by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants, belonging to the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). Reflecting upon the arduous journey traveled since then\u2014starting with the confusion during the accident\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[21,23],"class_list":["post-4976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-presidents-comments","tag-fukushima-daiichi","tag-tepco"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4976"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4979,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4976\/revisions\/4979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}