Release
December 22, 2015

Monthly Press Conference

Today, President Kenji Kudo held a monthly press conference in Aomori City and talked about "Status of response to the New Regulatory Requirements" and "Debate about the Nuclear Fuel Cycle business in Intensified Competition".

Status of Response to the New Regulatory Requirements

Review meetings for the Rokkasho Reprocessing Facilities were held on November 30 and December 21 to primarily examine whether actions planned in the event of a severe accidents or simultaneous occurrence of multiple severe accidents functions effectively.

As for design-basis standards, JNFL has, in past review meetings, made all the important-to-safety facilities subject to protective measures, explained countermeasures such as damage prevention in the case of flooding or chemical leakage, and received reviewers’ understanding in general. These have been compiled into an amendment report, to be submitted to the Nuclear Regulation Authority today.

In regard to the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant, JNFL has sorted issues for discussion concerning its design-basis standards against internal fires, etc. and is preparing the information for review.

Review meetings on seismic safety were held on November 27 and December 21 to examine issues including the fault on the outer edge of the continental shelf and the assessment of seismic ground motions without specifying hypocenters, receiving reviewers’ understanding in general.

This year, JNFL has made all-out efforts to achieve compliance with the New Regulatory Requirements, making positive steps toward passing the screening. However, the completion dates for the reprocessing plant and the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant had to be postponed again. We will make company-wide efforts under the philosophy of Safety First to meet the revised completion timeframe.

Debate about the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Business in Intensified Competition

An interim report (draft) on the Nuclear Fuel Cycle business under a newly intensified competition was presented at the 5th meeting of the Expert Working Group on Developing the Environment for the Nuclear Business on November 30. The draft report described the mechanism of concentrating reprocessing-related technologies, human resources and facilities to JNFL, and having the new corporation commission actual business operations to JNFL. We will continue to observe the course of the debate closely.