Talk by Kenzo Oshima, commissioner of the NRA

As part of the course of official development assistance, we had a talk by Kenzo Oshima.

He described himself as a retired diplomat, not a technical nuclear expert, and he has been involved in the nuclear regulation authority for 1.5 years now. The NRA has a chairman and 4 commissioners, as well as over 400 staff (experts/engineers) in many fields, not just nuclear science. It will expand in March 2014 with technical support agencies who have professionals in nuclear science, to up to 1000 members.

He provided much information on the location of nuclear power plants around the world. The maps only showed power plants and no scientific or medicinal facilities. While Japan was highly dependent on nuclear energy, France is dependent for 75%.

He also commented on the TEPCO incident at the Fukushima power plants. The zero risk safety myth was prevalent there, and it had probably been preventable. The health repercussions include thyroid complications. While the international reports state that there is no evidence leading to radiation leading to increased cancer risks, doctors at Chernobyl have said that international organizations don't want to see the local facts on the ground.

I asked him about the storage of debris, since Fukushima town has had much difficulty in finding temporary storage 1-2 meter below ground for the cleanup activities. He explained how while this was an issue, it was not the real problem Japan has to face. It is necessary to find an interim nuclear facility but also a spent fuel facility. Other materials are a much larger issue than the soil/leaves in the towns. No location has been found for these higher radiated materials yet. The hardest part is the molten debris inside the reactors, as no one knows how much there is and how it can be removed. Robots will play a big part this cleanup, and it may take 30-40 years for a full decommission.

Finland or Sweden are storing nuclear waste at about 500 meter underground experimentally, and it is being investigated whether this is possible in Japan. However, due to the many earthquakes, there aren't many suitable locations. I then asked if there was no suitable location in Japan, perhaps another country or place could be found. Apparently some countries have been considered already. Russia was quick to welcome all nuclear debris on the condition that the equipment that generated it came from Russia. The Australian ambassador stated 'don't even think about it', when asked if they would consider aiding Japan. Mongolia is still under consideration.

It is clear that nuclear debris is a problem of the entire world, not just of a single country. The global community has yet to objectively find a solution for this, regardless of the origin or storage location of the debris. I think we can only move forward when we start to think of these problems globally, and with a future time frame in mind, rather than purely based on national resources and legislation, and historic relationships. In any case, Mongolia would be a lot closer (3000 km vs. 7000 km), reducing the length of transportation risks by 57%.