Japan Press Weekly

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2011 December 21 - 2012 January 5 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

PM’s ‘under control’ declaration made with view to expand NPP exports

Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko on December 16 announced that the Fukushima nuclear crisis has been brought “under control”.

The announcement was timed “to implement policies supporting the nuclear power industry, such as resumption of operations of nuclear reactors under suspension and exports of nuclear power plants,” said Tanba Fuminori, associate professor at Fukushima University’s disaster recovery research institute. He went on to say that the government needed “to demonstrate the ‘safety’ to both at home and abroad.”

The government, TEPCO, and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency are now carrying forward the procedure of stress testing for the restart of off-line reactors’ operations.

Soon after the “under control” announcement, the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a statement welcoming the “cold shutdown condition” and praising the Japanese government and TEPCO by saying, “Overall TEPCO and the Japanese Government have made significant progress.”

Just one month ahead of the “under control” announcement, the Japan Business Federation released an energy proposal. It states, “It is very important, for the time being, to restart nuclear reactors whose safety has been confirmed.”

Then, just one day before the “under control” announcement, Daniel Poneman, Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy came to Japan and met with Japanese Foreign Minister Genba Koichiro.

Poneman during a meeting held in Tokyo said, “As two of the nations responsible for pioneering the peaceful use of atomic energy, the United States and Japan share an opportunity - and a responsibility - to safely speed that transition.”

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jaczko was another figure who also visited Japan (Dec. 18). He approved and welcomed the “cold shutdown condition” declared by the Japanese government.

Maehara Seiji, chairman of the Democratic Party of Japan Policy Research Committee, on December 21 during a gathering held at a Tokyo hotel said, “The deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy told me that he wants to further strengthen cooperative relations between Japan and the United States in nuclear energy, and I responded to him by saying Japan will strengthen cooperation with the United States not only in nuclear energy but also in all energy options.”

On December 22, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave design certification to Toshiba subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co.’s new type of reactor. Nuclear power plant construction, which has been frozen since the Three Mile Island accident, will recommence for the first time in 34 years in the United States.