 Greetings everyone.I am Takao Fujie, the President and CEO of the Japan Nuclear Technology Institute.
I wish to extend my sincere sympathy to people who continue to live a life of inconvenience in evacuation following the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11 last year and the ensuing accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter referred to as the Fukushima Daiichi Accident).
Last year’s Fukushima Daiichi Accident lost public trust in the safety of nuclear facilities.As an organization involved in the nuclear energy industry, we truly regret our inability to have prevented the accident.With serious determination never to allow such an accident to occur ever again, JANTI has given top priority to a range of activities associated with the Fukushima Daiichi Accident in a bid to restore the credibility of the nuclear energy industry.
More specifically, in the early stage after the accident, JANTI sent senior officials to the United States, Europe and some areas in Asia to resolve the frustration of related overseas organizations about the lack of information provided from Japan. JANTI began compiling and releasing an industry report both at home and abroad in July with participation from electric utilities and plant manufacturers, and sponsored an international symposium organized by the Atomic Energy Society of Japan in November.At the same time, we have been reflecting lessons learned from the accident to relevant organizational projects, e.g. incorporating the perspective of emergency preparedness to peer reviews at power stations.
Meanwhile, as assistance for safe and stable plant operations has always been an important part of our activities, we have maintained our steady involvement in safety culture assessment and other support for voluntary safety initiatives.
The outlook of our activities for FY2012 has yet to become completely clear, but JANTI is committed to making all-out efforts for safety improvement with awareness that the “assurance of nuclear safety” has priority over all else.
As you are aware, the Federation of Electric Power Companies announced in January 2012 a plan to establish a new independent organization by the end of the year for further reinforcing the safety assurance measures of nuclear power stations including countermeasures for severe accidents.
The establishment of this new organization is consistent with JANTI’s philosophy of pursuing advanced safety.We are therefore extending active cooperation to ensure that the experiences and lessons we have acquired over the years will be fully utilized for this organization.
Even now, TEPCO as well as many other organizations and personnel associated with the nuclear energy industry are making dedicated efforts to bring the accident to a close.JANTI is also fully committed to restoring public trust in the nuclear energy industry.Thus, we would like to ask our members to give further understanding of our activities and provide us with continued guidance and support.
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