RD and D for improving reliability of Japanese nuclear power plants

Research, development and demonstration of the technologies relating to improvement of nuclear power plant reliability in Japan are characterized by: (1) emphasis on public acceptance; (2) engineering philosophy of preventive maintenance; (3) execution of thorough countermeasures for improvement. Utilities and vendors are basically responsible for RD and D in this commercially established area. However, the government is also involved in safety related and other important items, and most of these activities are conducted under good coordination between government and private sectors. The government, more specifically, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) is conducting various reliability proving and verification tests reaching the scale of 12 billion yen (50 million US dollars) in annual average. In close cooperation with industry MITI is also promoting sophistication of LWR technologies such as development of advanced LWR's and improvement of inspection, maintenance and operation, without being satisfied with the recent good records of nuclear power plant operations. (orig.)