20 January 2021
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The UK and Japan have signed a research and technology deployment collaboration agreement to help automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion energy production. The collaboration is expected to lead to new robotics and automation techniques used in Japan and the UK.
Technologies developed through the collaboration could be used in the decommissioning of facilities at Sellafield (Image: Sellafield Sites)
The four-year, GBP12 million (USD16 million) UK-Japanese robotics project - referred to as LongOps - will support delivery of faster and safer decommissioning at Tokyo Electric Power Company s (Tepco) damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan and at the Sellafield complex in the UK, using long-reach robotic arms.
13 January 2021
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Upgrades to safety measures to comply with new regulatory requirements were completed yesterday at unit 7 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has announced. Although the utility has already received regulatory approval to restart the reactor, it must still obtain local consent.
Units 5-7 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant (Image: Tepco)
Tepco applied for Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) approval of its design and construction plan for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa units 6 and 7 in September 2013. It submitted information on safety upgrades across the site and at those two units.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 6 and 7 - 1356 MWe Advanced Boiling Water Reactor units that began commercial operation in 1996 and 1997, respectively - were the first Japanese boiling water reactors (BWRs) to be put forward for restart. The company subsequently submitted amendments to that plan in December 2018, July 2019, and in Septemb