JANSI Annual Conference 2023
Responses/Opinions Given to
Comments and/or Questions
April 28th, 2023
JANSI’s replies, views and other comments are posted below to comments and/or questions
received during the conference or from the post-conference survey.

Category

Comment/Question

Response/Opinion from JANSI (or Presenter)

Keynote Speech “Improving Columbia Generating Station Performance by Embracing Self-Regulation”
Question

Question for Mr. Schuetz

Thank you for your question. We received thefollowing reply from Mr. Schuetz.

What was the situation likewhen the Columbia Generating
Station was initially performing
poorly?

The broad performance decline that existed adecade ago was due to a breakdown in the ability ofemployees at all levels to demonstrate the daily
behaviors expected of nuclear professionals. Strongaction was needed to arrest the decline. The initial
sharp increase in performance was the result of a topdown focus on behaviors. We would demonstrate theright behaviors in everything we did, even if thatmeant we accomplished only 1 task per day. It would
not be unusual for senior corporate leaders andexecutives up through the CNO to be in the field daily,
coaching behaviors - a task that would normally fall to
the first line supervisors. This approach, while initiallyeffective, diverts the attention of the senior leadersfrom their own roles in setting and communicating
strategy and attending to running the business.

By what means did its
performance improve rapidly
thereafter?
Following that rapid
improvement, there was a
decline and then a gradualincrease. What was the reason
behind the decline, and what
triggered the second
improvement?

It was recognized early on that this approach would
not be capable of sustaining exemplary performance inthe long run and so, once performance was on an
upward trajectory, a transition to a “supervisor led”
organization was undertaken. A great deal of focus
was provided on strengthening the leadership and risk
management skills of the first line supervisors. While
this was also effective, what was missed wassimultaneous development of mid-level managers andeven department heads, who in many cases were new
to their role or had forgotten their proper role during
the time of top-down direction. As the senior leadersand executives stepped back into their proper roles
once the supervisors were developed, there was a voidat the manager level and performance declined.
The gap at the manager level was finally recognizedand efforts to develop and empower that group,
including very clear descriptions of roles andresponsibilities, were successful in arresting andreversing the decline. INPO played a key role indeveloping both the supervisors and managers boththrough direct on-site engagement and through theirrobust industry leadership training pipeline.

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Comment/Question

Response/Opinion from JANSI (or Presenter)

Question

Question for Mr. Schuetz

Thank you for your question. We received thefollowing reply from Mr. Schuetz.

I completely agree with yourcomment about the need tosend the best people when
dispatching one’s staff to INPO.
Japanese operators, including
my organization, have not yet
established that kind ofmindset for JANSI.

In support of INPO each utility has a responsibility
to provide their fair share of personnel. Theassignment task is typically handled by the Site Vice
President and station staff. Problems, which are rare,
are brought to the CNO. INPO staffing strategy andconcerns are discussed at the Executive AdvisoryGroup (EAG), which consists of all CNOs and senior
INPO staff.

Do discussions at INPO’s
CEO and CNO meetings covercertain rules and systems, suchas having the best staff
members be dispatched when
exchanging personnel withoperators?

All personal provided to INPO are nominated by theutility and must be accepted by INPO for assignment.
In some cases this process includes an interview andprofessional history review. For functional areaassignments, such as an Operations Evaluator or aPeer Review Industry Peer, this is done by theresponsible INPO department or Peer Review TeamLeader. For more senior positions, an INPO VP may be
the approving authority.

Comment

I renewed my awarenessthat INPO and operators havebeen collaborating in earnest tovoluntarily enhance safety.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, we will
strive to enrich content through appropriate planningand smooth administration.

Comment

The speech mentioned thatmaking systems, providing
education, and having top
management and external
parties provide encouragement
would not move things forward
without the thirst of the people
that are actually involved,
because we’re dealing withpeople’s actions. I could notagree more about that “thirst”.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, we will
strive to enrich content through appropriate planningand smooth administration.

Comment

I learned what should bedone based on real-life
experiences/examples about
bringing things from rockbottom to a top-notch level.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, we will
strive to enrich content through appropriate planningand smooth administration.

Comment

I found it very persuasive
regarding the point about theneed for top-level personnel toget involved to make selfregulation more effective.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, we will
strive to enrich content through appropriate planningand smooth administration.

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Comment/Question

Response/Opinion from JANSI (or Presenter)

Panel Discussion ”Expectations and Prospects for Future Activities”
Question

Question for JANSI
What does JANSI currently
think about and what efforts
will it make from here on,
regarding the three questions(i.e., how to have the Japanesepublic recognize JANSI as aself-regulatory organizationthat features will and strength;
what exactly is theindependence that JANSI
should have; and how tocommunicate with the NRA)?

Thank you for your question. JANSI’s reply is written
as below.
①Promotion of understanding toward JANSI’s activities
The basis of the appeal is that JANSI’s activities arefunctioning effectively as a self-regulatory organization.
For each target, we will appropriately provide
information and have dialogues in a timely manner
through effective means. Additionally, we will strictly
manage the privacy of individual power stations andinformation of INPO and WANO to ensure
confidentiality.
In specific, JANSI On-Line is issued four times ayear and an annual report is also created and postedon the website, which is used for dialogues withrelevant organizations. Additionally, we improve andenhance our website to make it easier to understand,see and use more needed information in a timely
manner.
Moreover, station performance shows good
performance, with data such as the number of casesof unplanned shutdown greatly improving since theFukushima Accident. We believe these improvements
are the results of JANSI’s activities in addition tovarious initiatives of operators themselves. We believe
such track record of actually improving safety isimportant in promoting understanding.
②Independence of JANSI
Independence of a self-regulatory organization isbuilt by having top executives of operators deeply
understand the significance of self-regulation andgiving strong authority to the self-regulatoryorganization as well as guaranteeing its independence.
In response, the self-regulatory organization musthave high technical capabilities and integrity. A selfregulatory organization is an organization establishedby the industry, but it conducts subjective and criticalassessments from a position independent fromindividual operators.
③Communication with NRA
Although self-regulatory activities and regulatory
activities of the national government are independentof one another, we believe we should be oriented
toward building a synergistic relationship. Currently,operating experience information (OE information) isbeing shared, but in order to further expand
opportunities to exchange information, we need tohave discussions regarding confidentiality ofinformation.

3CategoryComment/Question

Response/Opinion from JANSI (or Presenter)

Comment

The panelists engaged in a
multifaceted discussion based on
various perspectives. It was worth
listening to.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

Mr. Webster posed a question
about the role of leaders and thewillingness about becoming one of
the world’s safest industries. That
was wonderful.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

The moderator moved thediscussion forward by summarizing
each speaker’s remarks. This madethe discussion easy to understand.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Activity Report “JANSI Activity Review and Future Initiatives～ Instillation and Deepening of Self Regulation ～”Comment

The reflection on the rocky first
five years and the next five years
when things started to become wellestablished struck a chord with me.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

I learned that JANSI’s peer
review is the equivalent of or better
than WANO’s peer review.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

A lot of information seems tohave been crammed into a shortwindow of time.

Thank you for your comment. We will takethe comments voiced into consideration inplanning and administering future conferences as
we strive to further enhance and improve
conference content.

Comment

It’s been a while since I
participated in this event at thevenue. I enjoyed it very much.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

The hybrid approach would beeffective in encouraging participants
who are far away from the venue,
such as those at power stations.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

My online participation experiencehas been very efficient and I viewed
the event without any problem. I
would appreciate it if organizers canmaintain this format.

Thank you for your comment. So that theconference meets everyone’s expectations, wewill strive to enrich content through appropriate
planning and smooth administration.

Comment

Many people gather for the event,including from abroad, so I would
like organizers to secure time forparticipants to speak more withothers.

Thank you for your comment. We will strive tofurther improve content by having opportunity
such as cocktail party, so that participants cansocialize.

OthersThank you for your valuable comments and questions. We will use these for future reference as we
continue in our efforts to further improve conference content.
We have consolidated some similar comments and questions and omitted others relating toadministrative matters etc. Thank you very much for your understanding.

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