Hand-over ceremony of the Terms of Reference for IAEA/ARTEMIS Peer Review

1. On 17 September 2019, Mr. Yoshiyuki Chihara, Deputy Director-General, Research and Development Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, MEXT, received the Terms of Reference for IAEA ARTEMIS peer review from Mr. Christophe Xerri, Director of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, Department of Nuclear Energy of the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Takeshi HIKIHARA, Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Vienna, and Mr. Mikhail Chudakov, Deputy Director General of the Department of Nuclear Energy of the IAEA.

2. ARTEMIS is the IAEA’s integrated expert peer review service for radioactive waste and spent fuel management, decommissioning and remediation programmes, based on IAEA safety standards and technical guidance, as well as on international best practices.
The MEXT had requested the review mission from the IAEA on the ‘Back-end Roadmap’ which was published in December 2019 by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, JAEA.

3. During the ceremony, Ambassador Takeshi HIKIHARA stated that “The JAEA takes a very important role for research and development on nuclear technology in Japan. It is expected that the review will be conducted successfully with substantial results.” Additionally, Mr. Chihara added, “It is necessary to review the adequacy of the overall decommissioning programme and estimation of future liabilities to promote public understanding. The advice from the mission will be great support for us.”.

4. Mr. Toshio KODAMA, President of the JAEA, attended the ceremony and informed the IAEA that they will make the necessary preparations for the Mission in a timely manner.

<ARTEMIS>

ARTEMIS is an integrated expert peer review service for radioactive waste and spent fuel management, decommissioning and remediation programmes, which was launched in 2014. Based on requests from member states, experts will be convened and peer reviews will be conducted after adjusting the scope and content of the review.

<Request from Japan>

The JAEA published the ‘Back-end Roadmap’ to promote the safe and efficient management of the decommissioning of JAEA’s nuclear facilities in December 2018. The total cost which was indicated in the roadmap for decommissioning these facilities, and the associated radioactive waste processing and disposal, is estimated to be approximately 1.9 trillion yen. In April 2019, the MEXT requested the IAEA to undertake an ARTEMIS review on the JAEA’s ‘Back-end Roadmap’ with a particular focus on adequacy of the overall decommissioning programme and the methodology of estimation of future liabilities in order to update it in due course, taking benefit from this external review. The request was accepted by the Agency in June 2019.