New president for Japan Atomic Agency

May 27, 2015

New atomic agency chief grilled

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150527_14.html

May 27, 2015 - Updated 00:32 UTC+2

The new president of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been grilled on nuclear plant management.

Toshio Kodama, a former vice president of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, took up the post of agency president in April. He met with the commissioners of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, or NRA, on Tuesday.

NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka referred to the troubled Monju fast-breeder reactor the agency operates in Fukui Prefecture.

The authority has effectively banned test runs at Monju since May 2013, following a series of problems, including missed safety checks, at the reactor.

Tanaka noted there's still no prospect of lifting the ban. He asked Kodama whether agency officials understand the Monju reactor has many security issues that differ from those affecting light-water reactors. He suggested the agency should overhaul its management practices.

He also spoke about the agency's delayed efforts to make plutonium and other highly radioactive waste solid and more stable at a spent nuclear fuel-reprocessing plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

An NRA commissioner said agency officials should seriously consider how best to dispose of nuclear waste and decommission nuclear facilities after 20 or 30 years.

Kodama told reporters the authority's assessment was tough but understandable. He said his organization must follow the NRA's recommendations.