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Guiding principle for enhancing safety

Published on Aug.1 ,2013 : The Denki shinbun(The Electric Daily News)
Shojiro Matsuura
Chairman of JANSI

The Nuclear Regulation Authority’s new safety standards have gone into effect, initiating reviews on commercial nuclear reactors accordingly, at a time when fresh debate on rebuilding the nation’s basic nuclear energy policy is emerging. Although many of the evacuees from the nuclear accident remain displaced, the roadmap for decommissioning the affected reactors has been revised to a more practical version with specific details. Despite the lack of clarity in the future outlook, it is clear that Japan has begun seeking a new direction in terms of its use of nuclear energy.

Whichever direction it might be heading, Japan, as a nation that has experienced one of the world’s largest nuclear accidents, must establish a solid guiding principle in order to face future challenges. For example, the improvement of nuclear safety will pose the most important task, for which a range of response measures are to be proposed, examined and implemented. We should be able to draw a better judgment by scrutinizing every step of this progress under the guiding principle.

There appears to be consensus or shared opinion regarding the cause of the nuclear accident in accident reports compiled by the government’s investigation committee, the Diet’s investigation commission, Tokyo Electric Power Company as well as reports using the information presented in the above mentioned reports, subsequently compiled by domestic and overseas expert organizations. The consensus is that the concept of “integrity”, essential in introducing nuclear energy, was not truly understood among the industrial, governmental and academic sectors that have handled and promoted nuclear research, development and use in Japan.

This realization struck me clearly the other day during my trip to the United States for sharing the values of excellence in nuclear safety with people at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). I took the opportunity to hold meetings with executive members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Energy Institute.

It is a well-known fact that, after the accident at Three Mile Island Unit 2, the United States has enhanced safety in its nuclear operations under the powerful leadership of three powerful organizations, namely NRC, INPO and NEI, while keeping the balance of power among these mutually independent entities.

All the organizations I visited and all the people I met exuded a strong commitment to “integrity”, underlying their sense of mission for further enhancing the level of nuclear safety. The word “INTEGRITY” was actually featured on their walls, desks and staff ID cards.

Upon returning to Japan, I took to an English dictionary to study the word’s meaning, usage and transition of meanings. It stems from the Latin word meaning “complete”, and has evolved to mean “having high ethics”, “being honest”, “complete state” and “being unimpaired”. Its verb form, “INTEGRATE”, means “combining various components to produce a whole unit with consistency”. From the perspective of improving nuclear safety, having “INTEGRITY” as the guiding principle represents “examining all elements of nuclear activities comprehensively and continuing to strive for perfection in the level of safety assurance”.

The elements that the “INTEGRITY” principle must encompass include not only hardware (equipment and facilities) enhancement but also the improvement of human and organizational elements, such as expert capacity backed by a sense of responsibility, leadership, foresight, transparency, accountability, fact-orientation, active cooperation and information sharing.

It is not easy to continue striving for excellence under the guiding principle of “INTEGRITY”. Yet, commitment to this challenge is essential in order to continue undertaking nuclear energy operations.

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