11 Nov (NucNet): Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the US Department of Energy have reached an agreement to strengthen cooperation on efforts to stabilise and decommission the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tepco has said.
Tepco is already working with the DOE’s national laboratories on technical support cooperation in a number of areas, but is now planning to strengthen that cooperation on preventing the contamination and inflow of groundwater into the reactor buildings.
After a visit to the plant, which was destroyed by a tsunami in March 2011, US energy secretary Ernest Moniz said the DOE’s national labs and US companies will continue to help the Japanese government and Tepco, especially with regard to water contamination issues.
The DOE also issued a statement welcoming Japan’s recent decision to join the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC), which governs issues of liability in cases of a nuclear accident.
The DOE said that Japan’s joining the CSC will help US commercial engagement in the Japanese nuclear sector, including support for the cleanup of contaminated water at Fukushima-Daiichi, as well as decommissioning.
Japan and the US also said they were committed to working together to establish a global nuclear liability regime by encouraging other countries to join the CSC. This would represent the realisation of “a major objective” of the Action Plan on Nuclear Safety adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the DOE statement said.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the US-Japan Bilateral Commission on Civil Nuclear Cooperation on 4 November 2013 at the DOE’s offices in Washington, the Japanese delegation emphasised that contaminated water measures were “a pressing issue” and “an urgent task”.
The US delegation said the US was committed to expanding cooperation on decommissioning and environmental management by providing advice and information, and suggested that Japan “make further use of private sector expertise”.
During the meeting, Japanese representatives said the government was determined to play a role in Tepco’s efforts to respond to the contaminated water issue.
Japan said it would disseminate information and “mobilise the related technologies and expertise at home and abroad in an open manner”.
