Japan to Allocate Funds to Accelerate Preparations for Next-Generation Nuclear Reactor Reviews

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of Japan has decided to include funding in its budget request for the next fiscal year to investigate the effectiveness of safety measures for next-generation nuclear reactors and to make advance preparations for future review work.

The Japanese government is promoting the development of next-generation nuclear reactors, including "innovative light-water reactors" that enhance safety design based on existing light-water reactor technology. Since November last year, Kansai Electric Power Co. has been conducting geological surveys at the Mihama Nuclear Power Station in Fukui Prefecture as part of preliminary preparations for potentially replacing existing units with next-generation reactors in the future.

It has been reported that the NRA plans to include more than 1.3 billion yen in its budget request for the next fiscal year, specifically allocated for investigations related to review preparations for next-generation nuclear reactors. The investigations will focus on evaluating, through data analysis and other methods, the effectiveness of newly proposed safety measures in preventing the release of radioactive materials under accident scenarios.

The budget request will also include funding to further clarify the progression of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, so that the findings can be incorporated into future regulatory frameworks. The NRA's total budget request for the next fiscal year amounts to 89.3 billion yen, an increase of 34.2 billion yen compared to the initial budget for the current fiscal year.