Chairman Greeting

Once again it is a great honor to provide my annual greeting to you. This greeting is an opportunity to reflect on the high performance of the 10 Japanese nuclear units now in operation, the notable progress of the units preparing to return to service and several remarkable achievements at JANSI. It is important to note this progress occurred during a year when we slowly emerged from the global Corona Virus pandemic and at a time when the critical role of nuclear energy to meet the environmental, economic and security needs of Japan became increasingly apparent.

The operating stations continue to perform at world-class levels of safety and reliability as measured by accepted indicators of plant performance. Seven additional units have completed the required extensive safety reviews and are completing safety upgrades and preparing for their near-term return to service. Additionally other stations continue the intense work of completing required safety reviews in preparation for their eventual return to service. The JNFL reprocessing facility continues to make progress toward commissioning as the highest global standards of operational performance are adopted as well. As we frequently note, JANSI’s success will always be measured by the safe and reliable performance of the Japanese nuclear operators.

In November 2022 JANSI recognized its 10th anniversary. It was noted that JANSI had transitioned from a startup organization focused on the development of the basic programs necessary for a nuclear self-regulator to a mature organization focused on the effective implementation and continuous improvement of these programs. It was further noted that with strong industry support, the highest global standards of safety, promoted by JANSI, were increasingly woven into the fabric of the industry. Much of this progress can be attributed to the direction provided by the JANSI 10-Year Strategy. Whereas we continued to make steady progress across all dimensions of the plan, I would like to highlight the accomplishment of two major milestones of the strategy. The first is that in October 2022 the Governing Board of the World Association of Nuclear Operators awarded JANSI peer reviews equivalency to WANO peer reviews. This designation recognizes that JANSI peer reviews are conducted using an internationally accepted process and to the highest global standards of safety performance. The JANSI peer review program is the first plant peer review program in the world designated as equivalent by WANO. The second major milestone was the implementation of a pilot program for increased performance monitoring between peer reviews at the Mihama Nuclear Station operated by Kansai Electric Power Company. This pilot program was conducted in close collaboration with the WANO Tokyo Center as part of the WANO enhanced performance monitoring initiative. Early results are positive as useful performance insights have been developed and provided to station and corporate leaders. These two important accomplishments highlight the industry support for the JANSI 10-Year Strategy as well as our close alignment with the WANO Action for Excellence plan. Furthermore, they firmly establish two pillars for an effective nuclear safety oversight protocol.

Today we are experiencing several global forces that have a direct impact on our industry. These include threats to energy security, the global environmental impacts associated with climate change, and economic concerns associated with reliable and reasonably priced energy supplies. The important role of nuclear energy has become central in the conversations concerning the management and mitigation of each of these global challenges. This is most evident in the Green Energy Transition in Japan and the policy to maximize the use of current nuclear facilities and resources. These external forces as well as the exemplary progress on the JANSI 10-Year Strategy and continued improvement in industry performance have identified the benefit of conducting a thorough review of the JANSI strategy. As we are now approaching the mid-point of the original 10-Year Strategy, and with the support of the JANSI board of directors, it has been determined that a thorough review and updating of the 10-Year Strategy is in order. With industry involvement we are beginning a comprehensive strategic review. I am excited for the discussions and an updated strategy that better reflects the dynamic nature of our times.

The future role of the the use of nuclear energy to address the above noted challenges rests firmly on today’s safe operations. We cannot let the impacts of the above noted challenges detract from our unwavering commitment to nuclear safety. A healthy safety culture within each operating organization, and across the industry, is essential to the continued success of the industry. In my experience the stress that can occur due to changing environmental forces can slowly erode the culture of safety within a nuclear organization. This was a fundamental lesson of the Davis-Besse reactor head corrosion event in 2002. In our view at JANSI, each organization must regularly and visibly reinforce the traits of a healthy nuclear safety culture, periodically measure the health of the safety culture using formal means, and if there is a noted decline in performance, or an event, carefully examine if a decline in safety culture was a contributor. At JANSI reinforcing a healthy safety culture will always be at the top of our priorities.

As I close this year’s Chairman’s Greeting, I want to recognize the men and woman of JANSI. At JANSI we have a mantra: Excellence Starts at Home. We expect excellence of our members as reflected in our standards for peer reviews and other activities. At home, however, excellence is imperative in everything we do. In the last year I have been inspired by the dedication and commitment of the JANSI staff. Of course, this was most evident in the achievement of WANO equivalency for peer reviews and the successful pilot for enhanced performance monitoring. It has been equally evident, however, in our other activities such as the conduct of training sessions, the planning and conduct of our Annual Conference, senior representative interactions with our member companies, operating experience reviews and safety analysis reports, and safety culture assessments. This culture of excellence extends to our internal functions within our General Affairs and Planning Departments as well. Excellence Starts at Home is our way of life at JANSI and this is a way of life we readily embrace.

At JANSI we appreciate the support of all our members as we pursue our common goal of nuclear safety excellence. Thank you.

William Edward Webster Jr.
Chairman
Japan Nuclear Safety Institute