Japan Prime Minister Noda to Address United Nations

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

• Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda this week will address the United Nations’ general assembly in New York on the continuing need for safe and reliable nuclear energy in Japan. As part of the assembly, a meeting on nuclear safety and security will be held Sept. 22, during which lessons learned from the Fukushima accident will be discussed.

Plant Status

• Delegates to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference are expected to endorse a voluntary action plan to enhance safety and emergency preparedness as a response to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi. The plan, adopted by the agency’s board last week, calls for IAEA inspectors to periodically review the safety of reactors worldwide at the request of their operators. Goshi Hosono, Japan’s minister for nuclear crisis management, told the conference today that the Fukushima reactors will be brought to cold shutdown by year’s end, a precondition for the return of evacuees from the restricted zone around the plant. Also, the International Nuclear Safety Group, chaired by Richard Meserve, is to hold a Sept. 19 roundtable discussion on nuclear energy safety issues and on actions needed to strengthen safety.

Media Highlights

• The country’s seismic safety standards should be revised for all nuclear reactors to withstand a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a 50-foot tsunami, the chairman of Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission told The Wall Street Journal.

• The Associated Press reported on a large anti-nuclear demonstration in Tokyo on Monday.

Upcoming Events

• NEI and industry representatives will meet with NRC staff Sept. 21 to discuss actions related to the NRC’s Japan task force recommendations. The meeting will be webcast.

• Lessons learned from the Fukushima accident will be discussed in a Sept. 22 meeting on nuclear safety and security that will convene as part of the United Nations’ general assembly.