Practical nukes training difficult in Japan

May 11, 2015

Universities struggle to provide practical nuclear power training

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150511p2a00m0na012000c.html

Universities are struggling to provide practical nuclear power training to students because reactors for education and research remain idle as they cannot meet the new regulatory standards introduced following the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The new standards, worked out by the government's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), require operators of reactors for education and research with smaller outputs to take as strict safety measures as those for commercial reactors.

However, universities operating these reactors are unable to beef up their safety measures, and there are no prospects that they will pass NRA safety screening.

Concerns have been raised that the suspension of operations at these reactors could adversely affect development of human resources in nuclear technology, but the NRA cannot loosen up screening standards for these reactors as they are directly linked to safety. As such, both universities and the NRA are at a loss about what to do.

Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute in Osaka Prefecture has two reactors for education and research purposes, with an output of 100 watts and 5,000 kilowatts, respectively. Kinki University's Atomic Energy Research Institute, also in the prefecture, has one with an output of only 1 watt.

Both institutes claim that even if hit by a powerful earthquake, it would not cause a serious accident to the reactors that would require evacuation of local residents. Thousands of students and researchers, including those at other universities, have used these reactors for research and experiments, such as those involving starting up the reactors and adjusting their outputs.

Before the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March 2011, the operation of these reactors had been permitted if conditions that were set at the time of the installations were met.

Under the new standards, however, operators of these research reactors must assume the scales of earthquakes that could hit the reactors and implement multiple safety measures just like those for commercial nuclear reactors. Therefore, the operators are required to calculate how far every device in these research reactors can withstand vibrations estimated to be caused by the maximum possible earthquake.

Kinki University's reactor had been stopped by Feb. 5, 2014, and Kyoto University reactors were halted by May 26 last year for regular inspections.

The two universities applied with the NRA for safety inspections last fall, but the reactors have not yet passed the inspections as the regulator demanded that the universities submit specific figures and other information on the safety of the reactors.

Unlike electric power companies that have numerous employees, teachers at these universities must handle these duties while lecturing at classes and conducting their own research activities.

"Only five teachers can handle the duty. We can't assign more people to the task," laments Tetsuo Ito, head of Kinki University's Atomic Energy Research Institute.

NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka expressed understanding of the need for research reactors at universities. "These are important facilities for education," he has pointed out.

Still, Shinzo Kuromura, who oversees inspections on reactors at the NRA, said the authority cannot compromise its safety inspections.

"We can't relax our inspections," he said.

Kuromura added that he "would like to seek other ways" for the research reactors. However, neither the NRA nor the universities has come up with productive ways to ensure both human resource development and safety.

Since students cannot undergo training to operate nuclear reactors in Japan, Kinki University received a subsidy from the education ministry to dispatch students to participate in training at Kyung Hee University in South Korea.

Kyoto University organizes inspection tours of nuclear reactors for students instead of having them undergo training to operate reactors.

Ito of Kinki University underscored the need for students to learn through nuclear reactor operation training so that the decommission projects can be carried out safely at commercial reactors.

"We can't take all students studying nuclear technology overseas for training. It's regrettable that some students will start their career (in nuclear technology) without going through the tense training of operating nuclear reactors," he said.

May 11, 2015(Mainichi Japan)