2017 Feb C20 – From Decommissioning Fukushima Dai-ichi, to New Build in the UK – The UK-Japan Relationship in Civil Nuclear Power

The accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi in 2011 has left a decommissioning project which is expected to last 30-40 years. What is nuclear decommissioning, what does it involve, and how do you tackle a project with a likely lifetime longer that those who will be there at the beginning? How do you deal both with the technical challenges, and the challenges of a sceptical public so that the project can be completed successfully.

The UK nuclear industry began in the 1940s, and with the opening of the world’s first civil nuclear power plant at Calder Hall plant in Cumbria in 1956. By the nature of having some of the first power stations in the world, the UK is one of the first countries to enter a phase of decommissioning. This experience has resulted in UK organisations forming a close partnership with those in Japan tackling the situation at Fukushima Dai-ichi.

Keith Franklin, First Secretary at the British Embassy in Tokyo, on secondment from the National Nuclear Laboratory, who has visited the site many times over the past 6 years, will explain the current situation, and give an insight of the challenges which still need to be overcome, and will talk about how the UK has decided to build a new fleet of power stations, as the current 1st and 2nd generation plants come to the end of their operating lifetime.

[Lunch will be ordered so cancellations required before 3 Feb.]