EM Delegation Travels To Japan To Engage in Information Exchange

JAPAN – Senior Advisor William “Ike” White and others with an EM delegation traveled to Japan to attend the 7th International Forum on the Decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) this week to engage with experts from Japan and other countries.

The event provided an opportunity to learn the latest progress of the Fukushima Daiichi NPS cleanup and share information related to technical aspects and stakeholder engagement during decommissioning and remediation of nuclear legacy sites in the United States.

“This event brings together such a tremendous wealth of knowledge, expertise and experience. Listening to presenters and to other participants at the forum has been very informative. Through our international partnerships, we can continue to work together and learn from each other,” said White.

The two-day event was hosted by the Japan Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF) to provide a forum to discuss the Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning and the future of the community. Over 500 attendees participated over the course of the two-day event.

The first day featured a panel with Japanese and international government and industry leaders, and local community members to engage in a question-and-answer session regarding the cleanup. The panel included local high school students who voiced their desire to imagine a new future for Fukushima prefecture impacted by 3/11; how the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear accident are referred to by Japanese people. The conversation was captured by a story mapper who recorded the dialogue using pictures, words and symbols.

The program for the second day gave technical experts the opportunity to discuss the full-fledged debris retrieval at the Fukushima Daiichi NPS. The venue also housed a technical abstracts poster session, including a poster that was produced in collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory.

“12 years and 5 months have already passed since the nuclear accident. I would like to express my respect to the efforts of the local people who have been working step by step toward reconstruction despite difficulties. In parallel with the progress of reconstruction, significant progress has been made in the response to the decommissioning,” NDF President Dr. Hajimu Yamana said in opening remarks on day two in Iwaki, a city located in Fukushima prefecture near the Fukushima Daiichi NPS where the EM delegation participated in a tour.

White noted the progress of the Fukushima Daiichi NPS cleanup he observed first-hand in remarks delivered on the second day of the forum.

“The U.S. is very grateful for the work undertaken by NDF and the success already achieved in the Fukushima cleanup,” White said.Such engagements between EM and Japanese officials and stakeholders are not new. EM officials joined other government and industry representatives to explore potential collaborations between the U.S. and Japan in workshops held in 2020.

Those workshops, which focused on decommissioning work in Japan, were hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry and supported by EM’s Office of Intergovernmental and Stakeholder Programs. A year earlier, EM hosted a tour at the Idaho National Laboratory Site for Japanese engineers helping with the cleanup of the 2011 accident.

“It is truly an honor to be invited to Japan and given the opportunity to speak at the Fukushima forum and engage with our Japanese partners. Together we benefit from our exchanges of best practices, technology and expertise” White said.