At the discussion session, NSnet introduced the current status regarding the conducting of a peer review and the exclusive website for the members.
Laser Atomic Separation Engineering Research Association of JAPAN introduced the safety activities it is engaged in. The Association conducts a number of safety activities, including general education and training programs such as training to handle abnormal circumstances, inspections of important items carried out by a safety committee prior to the start of experimental testing, and training for the improvement of the technical skill prior to the start of experimental testing, among others. In addition, measures for the prevention of laser accidents involving humans are carried out, as powerful lasers are used in the facilities.
Among the main opinions, questions, and answers to come out of the subsequent discussions included the following:
- In today's event, it was extremely useful that the main points of the facility's safety management system were organized through reviewing the Association's safety-related activities.
- At the Association, the handling of uranium and the management of large-capacity lasers are important, but because there are few such lasers in Japan and a limited number of people with experience regarding such lasers, information exchange is particularly difficult.
Q: If NSnet has found some examples of activities in the peer reviews and caravans, that can serve as reference for small organizations like our Association, I would like you to introduce them to us (from Laser Atomic Separation Engineering Research Association of Japan).
A: For example, what I felt at our peer review of the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation Central Research Institute, Naka Research Center, was that the organization focused on on-site activities. In other words, the Center's director would visit work sites to the extent possible, making the Center organization open and accessible. In addition, in the Safety Caravan carried out at the Toshiba Corporation, we found that their experimental reactors of Nuclear Engineering Laboratory have undergone continuous use without accident. And the reason for this is because the facilities are not large, which means that everything is visible and can be confirmed, and therefore if something happens, group leaders and those in charge have complete knowledge about everything going on in the facilities (from NSnet).
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