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IAEA expert team in Japan to review plant safety Companies mentioned: IAEA Nuclear Installation Division, Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Kansai Electric Power Company, and National Nuclear Security Administration

Nuclear Energy Insider Policy and Commission Update 19 – 25 January 2012

IAEA expert team in Japan

The IAEA expert mission dispatched to Japan to review the nation's process for assessing safety at existing nuclear power plants has arrived in Tokyo for a nine-day visit. On 23 January, the 10-member team of IAEA and international experts held opening meetings with senior officials from the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and the Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO).

Arranged at the request of the Japanese government, the IAEA International Complementary Safety Assessment Review Mission will deliver a preliminary report to Japanese officials at the end of the mission on 31 January.

According to IAEA team leader James Lyons, Director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division, their mission is to look at the approach and methodology that NISA is using. “We want to see how Japan is evaluating safety at its nuclear power plants," he said.

"We hope that this review helps to improve nuclear safety both here in Japan and worldwide."

Nuclear cooperation policy review a political pickle

The Obama administration, which is in advanced negotiations on nuclear-cooperation agreements with Jordan and Vietnam, has withdrawn a demand that these countries forgo their rights to produce nuclear fuel, senior US officials said.

The policy shift, adopted after an extensive interagency review, drew criticism from some U.S. lawmakers, who charged that it could ease the spread of sensitive nuclear technologies, said a Wall Street Journal report.

The nuclear cooperation agreement signed by the Obama administration and United Arab Emirates in 2009 was considered a new standard in ensuring that developing nuclear countries only purchased enriched uranium or reprocessed spent plutonium fuel from foreign countries, to avoid materials and technology processes from getting into the wrong hands.

According to the WSJ report, US officials working on the policy review said that  the Obama administration “concluded that most countries wouldn't be willing to follow the U.A.E. model, and that insisting on it would hurt American interests.”

"To the extent we lose market share, we lose nonproliferation controls and hurt national security," said a senior US official involved in the policy review.

Nuclear infrastructure candidates attend workshop

An IAEA workshop, which started on 24 January 2011 in Vienna, has invited IAEA Member States that are considering developing nuclear infrastructure to meet with experts to learn best practices and identify the main infrastructure issues that arise when introducing nuclear power.

Gathering more participants than a year ago, the IAEA Meeting on Topical Issues in Infrastructure Development brings together about 100 participants from 45 countries to discuss the needs of Member States that are con-sidering starting - or have already started - a nuclear power programme.

During the four-day workshop, participants will discuss national decision making regarding the introduction of nuclear power.

NNSA Celebrates National Nuclear Science Week

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is NNSA is joining in the celebration of National Nuclear Science Week.

“NNSA is fortunate to have outstanding men and women from throughout the national nuclear security enterprise who protect our nation’s security, enhance global security, and push the boundaries of science and discovery,” said Don Cook, NNSA’s Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs.
“I applaud the work that they do in continuing to meet NNSA’s mission and deliver on President Obama’s nuclear security objectives,” said Cook.

The 3rd annual National Nuclear Science Week continues the theme of “Get to Know Nuclear” and is aimed at promoting careers in nuclear and other sciences, technology, engineering and math. The celebration  included live webinars on Nuclear Science Day, Jan. 25, from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.