September 26, 2013

Monthly Press Conference

Today, President Kawai held a monthly press conference in Aomori City and talked about the "status of approach to the new regulatory requirements on Nuclear Fuel Facilities", "completion of the Vitrification Technology Development Facility" and "support to the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TEPCO)".

"Status of approach to the new regulatory requirements on Nuclear Fuel Facilities"

  • Currently, public comments are being gathered for the draft revision, aimed at the promulgation and enforcement of new regulatory requirements of Nuclear Fuel Facilities including the Reprocessing Plant in December.
  • Most parts of severe accidents at the Reprocessing Plant can be addressed with portable equipment. Preparations will be advanced before the new regulatory requirements are promulgated and enforced, such as the installation of "foam tender" that discharges a large amount of water to extinguish big fires and control the spread of radioactive materials, portable monitoring camera to monitor the alternative pool in case the spent fuel storage pool loses its cooling function, and portable measuring equipment as an alternative measuring equipment in case monitoring posts stop functioning. At the same time, various trainings based on the new regulatory requirements will be examined.
  • All appropriate measures will be taken so that applications can be promptly submitted after the new regulatory requirements have been promulgated and enforced. Company-wide efforts will be made with the determination to "develop the world's safest reprocessing plant and the world's safest cycle facility".
  • The "completion timing of the Reprocessing Plant" is being examined based on the evaluation status of the nuclear power station and trend of the new regulatory requirements on cycle facilities. The new process will be notified as soon as it has been organized.

"Completion of the Vitrification Technology Development Facility"

  • JNFL has been constructing the "Vitrification Technology Development Facility", which is the base of research and development, within the reprocessing site in order to further improve vitrification technology. This facility will be completed on October 15.
  • A modified mock-up test furnace of the same size as the actual equipment has been installed. Tests mainly on the performance of the modified furnace that has been developed will be conducted using test waste liquid after November this year.

"Support to TEPCO"

  • Recently, TEPCO has requested JNFL and other Electric Power Companies through the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan for the dispatch of radiation workers and provision of radiation survey instrument and other equipment and materials.
  • JNFL has given support in the provision of equipment and materials such as radiation survey instrument and protective clothing, radiation survey of evacuees and environmental monitoring, and treatment of puddle water containing radioactive materials.
  • Specific support action is being examined by all Electric Power Companies. JNFL would also like to proactively provide support.