Tepco, Sellafield agree to share experience

30 September 2014

A formal cooperation agreement has been signed between Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the UK's Sellafield Ltd.

UK at Fukushima 460 (Tepco)
A delegation from the UK, including Nuclear Decommissioning Authority CEO John Clarke, toured the Fukushima Daiichi site on 24 September (Image: Tepco)

In May, Sellafield Ltd and Tepco Fukushima Daiichi Decommissioning Engineering Company (FDEC) - Tepco's subsidiary set up to carry out the clean-up of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant - agreed to cooperate in decommissioning. They signed a cooperation statement setting out the objectives and significance of a cooperation agreement.

Since then, the two companies have worked together to further build on this relationship, with exchanges of information and visits between the two sites. A formal agreement to enable the transfer of knowledge and experience between Tepco and Sellafield Ltd was signed yesterday.

The four main areas set for information exchange are site management; environmental monitoring; radiation protection; and, project delivery and design engineering.

Tepco FDEC head Naohiro Masuda said, "I believe this will contribute significantly to safely and successful decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station." He added, "We have a lot to learn from Sellafield, which has decades of valuable experience in the management of decommissioning. We believe we also have much to contribute to Sellafield from our experience over the past three and a half years at Fukushima Daiichi."

The signing of the agreement was also welcomed by Sellafield Ltd managing director Tony Price. "It is very important that we are able to share the great work being carried out at Sellafield by our own staff and the wide range of businesses that are integral to the progress we are making," he said. "It is also very important that we have the opportunity to learn new skills, techniques and methods that are being developed by Tepco during their work at Fukushima."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News