In his remarks at the opening session, JAIF Chairman IMAI Takashi referred to recent decisions by the Japanese government on nuclear policy, and related bills. He said that they had \u201cmade the value of using nuclear energy clear\u201d and that \u201cJapan\u2019s nuclear policy is poised to make great advancements.\u201d He went on to say, \u201cNow that the major courses of action for nuclear power have been presented, I expect each activity to progress specifically, steadily, and on the premise of ensured safety.\u201d He urged the government to be engaged in developing a suitable business environment.<\/p>\n
Regarding developments overseas, Chairman Imai expressed concern about the adverse effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on global energy security, now that the conflict has entered its second year. He noted that nuclear development has been accelerated in many European countries and in the United States, and that a \u201creturn to nuclear power\u201d is being witnessed as well in several countries that had been in the process of phasing it out. Under the present global nuclear circumstances, the JAIF chairman said that he hoped for active discussions at the conference\u2019s Session 1, \u201cUnsettled Global Situation and States of Energy in Other Countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chairman Imai also mentioned the G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment in Sapporo held on April 15 and 16, at which global nuclear industry organizations, including JAIF, had delivered a joint statement to the leaders of the G7 countries. Against that backdrop, he asked for the same active discussions at Session 2, \u201cReevaluation of Nuclear Energy: Contributing to Revitalization of the Nuclear Industry and Global Issues.\u201d Meanwhile, Session 3, \u201cReconstruction of Fukushima Now and in the Future\u201d and Session 4, \u201cMaximizing and Deepening Use of Nuclear Power toward 2050\u201d were scheduled for the second day.<\/p>\n
Next, HOSAKA Shin, head of Japan\u2019s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), who was attending the conference and offering a greeting as a guest, said, \u201cHumanity has always faced \u2018security\u2019 issues on energy as well as food.\u201d Saying that the global energy situation today marked \u201ca historical turning point\u201d given soaring resource prices, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and more, ANRE Commissioner Hosaka noted that nuclear power was \u201cdrawing attention again\u201d in the global challenge to simultaneously realize a decarbonized society and achieve energy security.<\/p>\n
In the promotion of energy policy, he emphasized that the starting point always lay with the experience of the nuclear disaster. \u201cReflection on the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi, and the lessons learned from it, will never be forgotten. Safety must always be the top priority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He then described what he called \u201cJapan\u2019s nuclear industry\u2019s major crisis\u201d and how the importance of invigorating nuclear industries was now a globally recognized common issue. He said that the government would try to maintain and strengthen nuclear supply chains, technological infrastructure, and human resources through the recently established \u201cNuclear Supply Chain Platform (NSCP).\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Commissioner Hosaka\u2019s greeting that was a video message by Rafael Mariano GROSSI, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who said that the annual JAIF conferences, since the first one in 1968, have been invaluable fora for discussing important nuclear subjects of the day and for the future. On the Ukraine situation, he referred to his recent visit there and said that the IAEA was continuing its efforts to break through the unprecedented, should-never-have-been situation of \u201cthreats to nuclear safety and security in time of war.\u201d He said the situation remains unpredictable.<\/p>\n
Referring to the increasing interest in nuclear use in many countries\u2014at least in part from the viewpoint of climate change measures\u2014he described such interest as \u201cglobally the highest it\u2019s been in several years.\u201d<\/p>\n
As issues ahead in deploying large-scale nuclear power facilities, the IAEA DG pointed to the establishment of legal frameworks, the development of financing environments, and the strengthening of supply chains. He then noted that the IAEA had launched its new Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI) in July 2022 for the purpose of advancing the standardization of designs for small modular reactors (SMRs) and other advanced reactors, and harmonizing regulatory approaches, which would enable IAEA member countries to develop and construct them safely and efficiently.<\/p>\n
Regarding the handling of ALPS-treated water from the Fukushima Daiichi, he said that the IAEA task force would release a comprehensive report on its safety reviews sometime this year.<\/p>\n
In the area of ensuring nuclear human resources, DG Grossi emphasized the need to foster next-generation professionals in a steady manner. As for the improvement of the gender balance, he explained the IAEA\u2019s new Lise Meitner Programme (LMP), in addition to the existing Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme (MSCFP), asking Japan for its understanding and cooperation.<\/p>\n
In the opening session, Ms. SAKURAI Yoshiko, a journalist and president of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals (JINF), gave a special presentation on \u201cMaking Japan Vigorous Based on Nuclear Power.\u201d The broad use of nuclear power, she said, was a key to pursuing the opposing goals of promoting new industries and reducing CO2\u2014two things that can easily become contradictory. \u201cIn Japan, since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs) has been dramatically improved, and, around the world, interest has grown in the construction of NPPs with enhanced safety. Japan should be an active participant in this trend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to the power shortages experienced primarily in Japanese metropolitan areas last spring, Sakurai pointed out the risks of excessive reliance on renewable energies, as well as costs and locating restrictions. She said that because energy policy was the foundation of the state, it must be implemented based on reality and for the national interest. In comparison with other countries, she said that Japan\u2019s ratio of installed capacity of PV power to total land area was among the highest in the world, but that emissions factors (CO2 emissions per kWh) in power generation and heat supply, taken together, were disappointing. Pointing out the use of thermal power as a backup to renewable energies as the cause of that situation, she asserted that nuclear power\u2014as a stable power supply\u2014should be positioned as one of the main sources.<\/p>\n
Based on her experience visiting many nuclear facilities since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Sakurai talked about the importance of giving people a fuller appreciation of the efforts made to improve safety. She also pointed to the need for fundamental improvements in nuclear regulation, considering the lengthening safety examinations seen now in efforts toward restarting shutdown NPPs.<\/p>\n
Finally, she referred to the fact that when the giant March 2011 earthquake (officially named the Great East Japan Earthquake) occurred, followed by the accident at Fukushima Daiichi (Fukushima I), a severe accident was prevented at TEPCO\u2019s Fukushima Daini (Fukushima II) by teamwork at the site. She said that Japan\u2019s nuclear technology was excellent, and that it was the government\u2019s responsibility to \u201csubstantiate the efforts at the working sites.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his remarks at the opening session, JAIF Chairman IMAI Takashi referred to recent decisions by the Japanese government on nuclear policy, and related bills. He said that they had \u201cmade the value of using nuclear energy clear\u201d and that \u201cJapan\u2019s nuclear policy is poised to make great advancements.\u201d He went on to say, \u201cNow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":6446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,1,8],"tags":[33,894,893,42,67,629,892,895],"class_list":["post-6443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-industry","category-news","category-policies","tag-anre","tag-grossi","tag-hosaka","tag-iaea","tag-jaif","tag-jaif-annual-conference","tag-jinf","tag-sakurai"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6443","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6445,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6443\/revisions\/6445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}