March 27, 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", "Welcome Ceremony for New Employees in FY2015" and "JNFL’s Stance on the Debates on Energy Mix".

"Status of response to the New Regulatory Requirements"

  • With regard to the design requirements for reprocessing facilities, JNFL is currently exploring the approach to selecting facilities subject to protection, method for providing the protection, and conditions that could cause severe accident. JNFL will present its views on these matters as soon as they are compiled.
  • As for seismic safety, JNFL will compile additional data responding to the request at the review meeting, to present more data to achieve a higher level of accountability.
  • The Third-Party Committee on Geological Structure Study for the Eastern Shimokita Peninsula, jointly run by JNFL, Tohoku Electric Power Company, Tokyo Electric Power Company and Recyclable – Fuel Storage Company has concluded its investigation. Based on analysis results, committee members have concluded that the age assessment of each stratum along the perimeter of the continental shelf is appropriate.

"Welcome Ceremony for New Employees in FY2015"

  • A welcome ceremony for this year’s 84 new employees will be held on April 1. About 70% of them are from Aomori prefecture origin. As a company deeply rooted in the local communities, JNFL will maintain this human resources approach to contribute to local employment conditions.
  • In FY2016, JNFL plans to recruit about 100 people to further advance each of our business divisions including the reprocessing operation.

"JNFL’s Stance on the Debates on Energy Mix"

  • The Subcommittee on Long-term Energy Supply-demand Outlook under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy is currently engaging in concerted efforts to explore the optimum energy mix for the nation.
  • Japan’s energy self-sufficiency is as low as around 6% as of 2012. This is lower than the equivalent rate recorded during the Oil Crisis.
  • From the perspectives of energy security, response to global warming and the need to maintain technologies and human resources, JNFL believes it necessary to secure a certain scale of nuclear power generation into the future. In advancing nuclear power generation, it is crucial to steadily develop the nuclear fuel cycle technology to effectively utilize uranium resources, reduce the bulk of nuclear waste and mitigate its hazardousness.
  • JNFL hopes the subcommittee will continue to engage in realistic debates, fully based on the resource-poor reality of our country.