Japan's future nuclear industry should break away from the so-called "safety myth" of nuclear power plants, and it is necessary for the nuclear operators to assume the responsibility of voluntarily and continuously pursuing improvements to nuclear safety.

To achieve this goal, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) will establish a Working Group on Voluntary Nuclear Safety Improvement under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, in order to discuss measures to encourage the industry to continue improving the nuclear safety on a voluntary basis.

1. Schedule of the working group for discussion

On July 17, 2013, the working group will hold its first meeting. The working group meetings will open to the public in principle. The future schedules of the second and following meetings are to be announced on the following METI website as soon as they are decided.

METI website on the meeting schedules of Councils and Study Groups:
https://wwws.meti.go.jp/interface/honsho/committee/index.cgi/committee (in Japanese)

2. Members of the working group (pending)
Chairman: Mr. Itaru Yasui, President, National Institute of Technology and Evaluation Members: Mr. Tadashi Inoue, Advisor, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Mr. Hiroshi Uetsuka, Executive Director, Japan Atomic Energy Agency Mr. Akira Omoto, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology Mr. Yukihiro Kirimoto, Senior Researcher, Nuclear Technology Research Laboratory, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry Mr. Naoto Sekimura, Professor, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo Mr. Taketoshi Taniguchi, Professor, Todai Policy Alternatives Research Institute Mr. Kazuo Furuta, Professor, Resilience Engineering Research Center, School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo Ms. Ekou Yagi, Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Communication-Design, Osaka University Mr. Akira Yamaguchi, Professor, Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University Ms. Sumi Yokoyama, Associate Professor, Faculty of Radiological Technology School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University

July 9, 2013

Nuclear Energy Policy Planning Division, Electricity and Gas Industry Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy

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