Message from the President

President Atsuyuki Suzuki

It has now been over a year since the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power
Company, Incorporated (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS). Of note,
only be started a lengthy process of the environmental decontamination and remediation
work, which has involved the efforts of the entire country. Despite our efforts, however, wemust be prepared for a long way to go. In addition, while ensuring the long-term steadiness ofsafety condition of the damaged facilities on site, and within the power plant, the tenacious
work pursuing the completion of the stepwise tasks necessary for decommissioning continues
on a daily basis.
I believe that, as an organization that is the only comprehensive R&D institute involved innuclear power in the country, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) must understandably
direct all of its technological expertise toward resolving the Fukushima matter with theutmost priority.
Tasks such as the decontamination of areas outside of the power plant and environmental
monitoring have been possible, and efforts to clean up the environment continue to be madethroughout the country. In addition, in the future, based on the policies put forward by thegovernment-TEPCO s Fukushima Daiichi NPS med-long-term response council R&Dheadquarters, we would like to invest significant resources in providing technical support forthe decommissioning activities within the power plant.
For example, with respect to environmental remediation, following an integrated
investigative analysis focused on the long-term environmental fate of Fukushima prefecture
and the surrounding area, we want to help support the comprehensive integration such
scientifically reliable data from around the country. Regarding the decommissioning of thepower plant, we have initiated basic and fundamental R&D programs concerning the handlingand management of the complex and diverse forms of molten fuel collectively referred to asfuel debris. We plan to further develop these activities in the future.
Furthermore, because the decommissioning of the TEPCO s Fukushima Daiichi NPS is achallenge concerning nuclear power, which is of the utmost importance for the country, I feelthat we need to accelerate the current decommissioning plans set by the JAEA as soon as
possible and consider ways to effectively capitalize on the experience and knowledge gained
from these to be used for Fukushima.
The seriousness of the accident at the TEPCO s Fukushima Daiichi NPS serves to newlyraise the importance of ever more severe measures for the safety of nuclear power. In order tomake this tragedy a lesson that should never be forgotten, we are increasingly pushing ahead
with R&D that is able, for example, to explain the phenomena associated with severe
accidents, providing measures to consider the event of such accidents, and substantiating
safety through material and reactor irradiation tests. We are also planning to study ways tomake innovative safety improvements in future reactors, such as the sodium-cooled reactor
and the high-temperature gas reactor. Safety research remains one of the main, primary
themes that JAEA must address, and we are in the process of strengthening the system towardthat end.
The Framework for National Nuclear Energy Policy regarding R&D for the fuel cycle,
which target the prototype fast-breeder reactor MONJU , reprocessing, and geologicaldisposal, are presently under review, and any specific future planning must await theconclusions of that review. However, I do not expect the importance of the R&D associatedwith spent fuel that actually exists today to be lessened. The management of spent fuel is a
global problem, and therefore, JAEA can play an important role internationally.
We are also earnestly engaged in R&D activities related to fusion energy technologies andquantum beam applied technologies, and moreover, in a broader sense, cutting-edge basic andfundamental R&D. In addition, we are actively pursuing innovations that can serve as
catalysts for future advances and the creation of more sophisticated basic and fundamentaltechnologies.
With regard to fusion energy technologies R&D, the JAEA, having been appointed as thesole national institute in our country for the planning of the International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor (ITER), has played a central role in implementing that plan.
Our R&D activities in quantum beam applied technologies have proceeded in cooperation
with other facilities, such as conventional nuclear reactors and accelerators, and researchusing Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) has been developed on aninternational level, with many notable accomplishments already achieved.
Furthermore, with the principal objective of cultivating promising young researchers andthrough continued external support, we have encouraged groundbreaking research in cuttingedge fields. These activities have been highly praised both at home and abroad, and I lookforward to their continued and evolving implementation.
We believe it is important to proactively share and utilize the achievements of thisorganization s R&D.
This publication constitutes a review of our achievements in the fiscal year 2011. It
provides you with a look at some of the work that has been carried out, and also invites you tocheck the references listed and contact the researchers if there are any topics that you wish tolearn more about. I would be most gratified if I could hear from you with any comments on
this publication.
I hope that you enjoy this publication. Thank you for your interest.