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Plant Update Tokyo Electric Power Co. has released English translations of its Management Policy Toward Restoration of the Fukushima Daiichi site and environs as well as a 71-item Intensive Reform Implementation Action Plan for executing the policy. The plan includes building an international reactor...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s nuclear utilities and vendors have created a new group called the Japan Nuclear Safety Institute (JANSI), which the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said is modeled on the U.S. Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the World Association of Nuclear...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s new two-year business plan, released last week, projects that costs for decontaminating the area around Fukushima Daiichi and paying damages to evacuated residents will double from the $62.5 billion estimate from April. The company also expects...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority is investigating whether Kansai Electric Power’s Ohi nuclear plant—the only operating facility in the country—is on an active fault line. The NRA heard last week from a group of experts who have surveyed the fissure. The agency...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The operators of U.S. nuclear energy facilities last week approved a contract to develop two regional response centers that will store emergency equipment for rapid delivery in case of an extreme event at any nuclear plant. “The regional response centers will further increase...

Industry/Regulatory/Political AREVA has announced a contract to provide all 23 of Japan’s pressurized water reactors with passive autocatalytic recombiners, which will help prevent hydrogen from building up in emergency situations. The company said it will install more than 100 of the devices, which...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The five commissioners heading Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) unanimously agreed last week to formulate new severe accident regulations for nuclear energy facilities, in line with the country’s atomic energy law that parliament amended in June. Accident scenarios...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The post-Fukushima response steering committees of the nuclear energy industry and Nuclear Regulatory Commission reviewed accomplishments and work in progress during a joint meeting last week. Nuclear energy industry representatives highlighted completion of inspections...

Industry/Regulatory/Political A new study by the Electric Power Research Institute that examines options for minimizing the release of radioactive materials in a severe nuclear accident says that a combination of strategies would be much more effective than depending on any single measure. In particular...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The Japanese government’s Energy and Environment Council last week proposed a goal of phasing out nuclear energy “in the 2030s.” The new policy follows recent public surveys that indicate support for ending the country’s reliance on nuclear energy. The panel said the 48...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The Japanese government has announced a plan to rebuild some areas in the Fukushima Daiichi evacuation zone, enabling residents in those areas to return in two years once power, water and sewage services are restored. Returning residents will be offered work in decontaminating...

Plant Update Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it found no significant damage or deformation to two unused fuel assemblies it had removed last week from the used fuel storage pool of Fukushima Daiichi reactor 4. The utility said it also will examine fuel pellets from inside the assembly rods. The relatively...

Plant Update Tokyo Electric Power Co. has removed the primary containment vessel dome from Fukushima Daiichi reactor 4. TEPCO published photos and video clips showing the dome being lowered to the ground. The dome will be cut up and stored on site. The company also is preparing to remove the reactor...

Industry/Regulatory/Political An independent review of lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants in the aftermath of last year’s earthquake and tsunami, conducted by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations at the request of Tokyo Electric Power Co., says that reactor operators...

Top safety experts at all U.S.nuclear energy facilities are implementing FLEX, a strategy developed to address the main safety challenges atFukushima, and planning for events that are more severe than those for which their facilities were designed. PSEG Nuclear’s Jamie Mallon is one such expert. With...

Last November, we told you about how the employees at the Onagawa nuclear energy facility in Japan played a critical role in sheltering local residents in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck the island nation. While the Onagawa facility remains safely shut down, its employees...

The following news article originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. A new Japanese government investigation of the Fukushima accident says that national and local organizations were ill-prepared for a large-scale and complex natural disaster such as last year’s earthquake and tsunami, leading...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Kansai Electric Power Co. last week restarted a second reactor at its Ohi nuclear energy facility in Fukui prefecture. The company said Ohi reactor 4 should reach full power this week. Reactor 3, the first in the country to restart since the Fukushima accident, attained...

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has removed two unused fuel assemblies from a fuel pool at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, an encouraging sign of progress being made as part of the company’s long-term recovery plan. “We cannot understate the importance of this step by TEPCO...

Industry/Regulatory/Political The U.S. nuclear energy industry has begun to implement safety enhancements based on recommendations from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Japan task force. Last week, NRC staff observed inspections conducted by Dominion at its Kewaunee nuclear station in Wisconsin...

Industry/Regulatory/Political An independent commission appointed by Japan’s parliament to study the causes of last year’s nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi harshly criticized the government, the plant operator and the country’s national culture. After conducting 900 hours of public hearings and...

The following story originally appeared in NEI’s Nuclear Energy Overview. An independent commission appointed by Japan’s parliament to study the causes of last year’s nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi had harsh criticism for the government, the operator of the plant and even the country’s national...

Industry/Regulatory/Political At shareholder meetings last week of all nine Japanese nuclear utilities, proposals to reduce or eliminate the use of nuclear energy were voted down. Tokyo Electric Power Co. shareholders approved the government taking over 75 percent of the utility’s shares in exchange...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Tokyo Electric Power Co. last week released its final report of the company’s internal investigation of events at Fukushima Daiichi following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. Japanese media say that in the report TEPCO says it failed to adequately prepare for...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Japan’s government has approved restarting two reactors at the Ohi nuclear power plant in the Fukui prefecture in central Japan. The government decision came after the governor of Fukui told Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda that he approved the restart. All 50 of Japan...