A nuke research hub in Fukushima

January 10, 20123

Gov't to fork out 80 billion yen for radiation research hub in Fukushima

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130110p2a00m0na007000c.html

The Japanese government has decided to set up a laboratory in Fukushima Prefecture for research and analysis of radioactive materials and the development of disaster robots, with the aim of making it an international hub of radiation studies in the future.

Once completed, the research facility is also expected to create hundreds of employment opportunities in the prefecture, assisting the area's recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster.

On Jan. 9, the government decided to allocate some 80 billion yen in the fiscal 2012 supplementary budget bill for the designing and construction of the laboratory. The government is also mulling collaboration between the facility and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ultimately eyeing the establishment of an international hub for radiation research and development with hundreds of researchers from around the world.

In an emergency economic stimulus package to be approved by the Cabinet on Jan. 11, the government designates "recovery from the nuclear disaster" and "support for research and development in the private sector" as top priority issues, indicating that the establishment of the radiation laboratory in Fukushima will become the focal point of the package.

Specifically, the government will fund the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) -- an independent administrative agency -- by setting aside some 80 billion yen in the fiscal 2012 supplementary budget bill. Under the plan, the JAEA will construct a facility to analyze radioactive materials emitted from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, as well as a center for research and development of remote-controlled robots for use at disaster sites and in space.

At the laboratory, researchers will analyze radioactive waste and study methods for the processing and storing of such waste, using the Fukushima nuclear disaster as a lesson, according to the government's plan. As Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, has decided to decommission the No. 1 through No. 4 reactors at the plant, research for safe decommissioning of reactors will also be conducted at the facility. Furthermore, methods for effectively collecting rare metals from radioactive materials will also be studied.

Meanwhile, the robot laboratory will conduct research and development of unmanned robots that can be remotely controlled under such severe circumstances as a nuclear crisis and other disasters, as well as in space where radiation levels are high.

At the end of last year, the government and the IAEA agreed to establish an IAEA center for training emergency response capabilities in Fukushima Prefecture. A plan is also being considered for an international research hub for reactor decommissioning and inviting hundreds of researchers from universities and the IAEA.