Release
May 28, 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", "Status of Mockup Tests on the New Glass Melter" and "JNFL's Position regarding the Formulation of the Nation's Energy Mix".

Status of Response to the New Regulatory Requirements

At the review meeting on the 27th of last month, JNFL presented its basic stance on design requirements concerning its reprocessing facilities which includes "the approach to selecting equipment for protective measures" and "protection methods", as well as individual measures introduced against "internal fires, flooding, tornados", etc.

Since consideration regarding countermeasures for severe accidents is a key focus of the New Regulatory Requirements, the process is taking more time than expected, but JNFL will continue to prepare a more effective presentation for the future, while conducting hearings to identify issues to be clarified.

Another review meeting was convened on the 15th of this month to assess the impact of volcanoes. JNFL presented a list of volcanoes that could affect its facilities and assessment of individual volcanic activities. In response to the reviewers' request to conduct another presentation with reinforced data, JNFL plans to compile further information for another presentation.

Status of Mockup Tests at the New Glass Melter

As already explained, JNFL is developing a new glass melter for further enhancing its vitrification technology.

From February 2015 to the 9th of this month, JNFL conducted a test on the new melter's waste liquid processing performance as the second half of Stage 2 testing. The results indicated excellent performance in melter operation and discharge flow. The test was completed confirming that it can achieve stable operation with a processing rate of approx. 70 liters of waste liquid per hour, which is the condition for a pre-service inspection. It has also been confirmed that the melter leaves almost no residual materials inside.

JNFL will continue to carry out detailed assessment including data analysis to make further considerations for a decision to introduce the new glass melter to the actual plant operation.

JNFL's Position Toward the Formulation of Nation's Energy Mix

The government has recently presented its outlook of energy demand-supply structure, including the predicted power supply composition in 2030, and began compiling a report on the 26th of this month.

Considering the nation's extremely low energy sufficiency of approx. 6% as of 2012, Japan must continue to utilize nuclear energy for power generation on a certain scale so as to secure energy supplies, mitigate global warming and maintain technologies and human resources in the industry. To this end, the promotion of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle program is extremely important from the perspectives of effectively utilizing uranium resources and reducing the bulk and hazard level of radioactive waste.

In the given circumstance, there is a strong significance in the government's move to present a specified quantity of nuclear energy use in the future. JNFL will continue to make company-wide efforts to establish Nuclear Fuel Cycle technology while giving top priority on safety assurance.