Tepco, CEA agree to information sharing

A cooperation agreement has been signed between Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to promote the exchange of information and experience in decommissioning nuclear facilities.

A cooperation agreement has been signed between Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) to promote the exchange of information and experience in decommissioning nuclear facilities.

The agreement was signed yesterday at CEA's research facility at Saclay by the head of its nuclear energy development division Christophe Behar and Tepco's chief decommissioning officer Naohiro Masuda (Image: Tepco)

The cooperation agreement follows a November 2014 meeting between the CEA and Tepco. Both organizations concluded that mutual information exchange would contribute to the safe and stable decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, as well as sites in France for which the CEA is responsible. "The precise information to be shared will be determined over time," Tepco said.

Behar said, "Tepco is facing a tremendous task, the one of dismantling and decommissioning (D&D) in a steady and safe way the Fukushima Daiichi site. The nuclear energy division of CEA has, on its side, large experience of decommissioning and dismantling old facilities, like reactors, hot labs, reprocessing plants, and also recovery of legacy wastes in different forms and quantities of different types."

He added, "I believe that sharing this experience with Tepco can be a valuable input. The D&D programs are extremely complex, long-term endeavours, require a high level of technology, know-how, and also financial commitment in the long term. The nuclear energy division of CEA, responsible for all its D&D activities, is proud through the signature of this agreement to be engaged in a long-term relationship with Tepco, and hopes to share its experience, while learning a lot through the different steps of the future decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant."

Tepco's Masuda said, "We expect to learn from the CEA's many years of valuable experience, from technological development with partner companies to the application on-site of decommissioning and nuclear waste management. At the same time, we would like to make this agreement with the CEA mutually beneficial by sharing our lessons from ongoing as well as future efforts."

Tepco noted that its information-sharing agreement with the CEA is similar to one it signed with the UK's Sellafield Limited in September 2014. The Japanese company has also been cooperating with the US Department of Energy.

These agreements, Tepco said, "reflect an overall commitment to collaborate globally, not only on decommissioning but in operations as well".

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News