{"id":7847,"date":"2026-05-13T09:51:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/?p=7847"},"modified":"2026-05-13T09:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:51:24","slug":"nea-chief-warns-supply-chain-constraints-could-slow-global-nuclear-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/news\/7847","title":{"rendered":"NEA Chief Warns Supply Chain Constraints Could Slow Global Nuclear Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Speaking at a press conference during the 59th Annual Conference of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) on April 15, Magwood emphasized that Japan\u2019s nuclear manufacturing sector would play a critical role in supporting the next phase of global nuclear expansion. \u201cI do believe that the Japanese nuclear industry is much stronger today than it was before,\u201d he said, referring to the NEA\u2019s country-specific safety culture forum conducted in Japan approximately two years ago. According to Magwood, the initiative gave the agency \u201ca very strong view of the current state of safety culture in Japan,\u201d adding that the NEA was \u201cextremely impressed with the progress that has been made over the last several years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magwood noted that as more countries return to nuclear energy, dependence on Japan\u2019s manufacturing expertise is expected to increase significantly. \u201cIt is very clear that the expertise in the Japanese manufacturing sector is going to be relied on very heavily,\u201d he said, pointing in particular to large nuclear components such as pressure vessels and steam generators, as well as balance-of-plant equipment including turbine generators. At the same time, however, he expressed concern that global manufacturing capacity may not be large enough to meet the demand expected to emerge over the coming decade. \u201cWhen I talk to ministers in different countries, I usually hear that they plan to see new nuclear plants by the mid-2030s,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when we look at the current capacity globally, it is not sufficient to support that level of development.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that manufacturers would need to make significant investments to expand production capacity, while many companies remain hesitant due to lingering uncertainty over whether the expected market growth will fully materialize. \u201cMany of them are waiting for clear signals that this new market really is going to develop,\u201d he said. Magwood also highlighted the high level of confidence international industry players place in Japanese companies. \u201cI know for a fact that when our companies begin thinking about these issues, one of the first things they do is call their colleagues in Japan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Workforce shortages becoming a structural challenge<\/h2>\n

Human resources emerged as another central theme of the press conference. Magwood warned that OECD countries are facing growing difficulties in maintaining sufficient numbers of young people entering science and technology fields to replace retiring workers. \u201cIn OECD countries today, there are simply not enough people coming into science and technology sectors to make up for the retirements,\u201d he said, stressing that Japan faces particularly severe long-term demographic challenges due to declining birth rates. For that reason, the NEA plans to conduct several workforce-related activities in Japan this year, including an international mentoring workshop for high school students in Tokyo and a second national nuclear education workshop later in 2026.<\/p>\n

Magwood also noted that younger generations in Japan appear to view the Fukushima Daiichi accident differently from previous generations. Reflecting on recent workshops with Japanese high school students, he said many students now approach Fukushima primarily from an academic perspective rather than an emotional one. \u201cThey see it as something to learn from, not something to fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

SMRs face \u201cuncertainty\u201d rather than cost alone<\/h2>\n

The NEA chief also discussed the challenges facing small modular reactors (SMRs), arguing that uncertainty \u2014 rather than cost alone \u2014 remains the largest barrier to deployment. \u201cThe real challenge is the uncertainty associated with nuclear projects,\u201d he said. According to Magwood, first-of-a-kind projects inevitably involve significant risks, making it difficult for conventional companies to absorb the financial exposure associated with early deployment. In that context, he suggested that large technology companies such as Microsoft and Google could play an important role as \u201cfirst movers\u201d willing to accept those risks. \u201cThese very wealthy IT companies have the resources to take those risks,\u201d he said, adding that once first-of-a-kind projects are completed successfully, commercial competitiveness could improve substantially. The NEA currently tracks approximately 127 advanced reactor and SMR projects worldwide through its SMR dashboard initiative, although Magwood acknowledged that not all of them would ultimately succeed.<\/p>\n

Concerns over wartime protection of nuclear facilities<\/h2>\n

The press conference also addressed nuclear security risks associated with the war in Ukraine. While emphasizing that nuclear facilities are \u201cextraordinarily robust,\u201d Magwood argued that the current international framework for protecting nuclear facilities during armed conflict remains insufficient. \u201cI believe that the experience in Ukraine has highlighted to everyone that there are gaps in the current regime,\u201d he said. Although he said he was not aware of any active international effort to establish a new convention on the issue, he suggested that future international discussions and agreements would likely become necessary. At the same time, Magwood stressed that many lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi accident had already been incorporated into nuclear safety practices worldwide.<\/p>\n

Fukushima cleanup requires patience and long-term commitment<\/h2>\n

Regarding decommissioning efforts at Fukushima Daiichi, Magwood said that many of the immediate safety risks that existed after the accident had already been reduced or eliminated. However, he emphasized that large-scale environmental cleanup and decommissioning efforts inevitably require decades to complete, referring to cleanup activities at the Sellafield site in the United Kingdom and the Hanford site in the United States, both of which have already continued for decades and are expected to require decades more. \u201cCleanup activities like Fukushima Daiichi always take a long time,\u201d he said. Magwood also stressed that some aspects of Fukushima decommissioning require entirely new technological approaches to solve unprecedented problems. Rather than criticizing the pace of progress, he said he would be more concerned if authorities attempted to move too quickly without careful analysis. \u201cI\u2019m very confident that the government and TEPCO are watching this process very carefully and moving in a step-wise fashion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Speaking at a press conference during the 59th Annual Conference of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) on April 15, Magwood emphasized that Japan\u2019s nuclear manufacturing sector would play a critical role in supporting the next phase of global nuclear expansion. \u201cI do believe that the Japanese nuclear industry is much stronger today than it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[731,21,67,629,498,325,1508,1497,1496,1507,967,552,1506],"class_list":["post-7847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","category-news","tag-energy-security","tag-fukushima-daiichi","tag-jaif","tag-jaif-annual-conference","tag-nea","tag-new-nuclear","tag-nuclear-expansion","tag-nuclear-manufacturing","tag-nuclear-supply-chain","tag-nuclear-workforce","tag-oecd-nea","tag-smr","tag-w-d-magwood-iv"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847","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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7847"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7851,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7847\/revisions\/7851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jaif.or.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}