Licensees activities for nuclear safety. Organizational culture and leadership

The IAEA Report on Fukushima Daiichi Accident indicated that a basic assumption or preconception was widely shared by the nuclear industry in Japan and it led to a thought which made Japanese nuclear operators not being proactively prepared for unexpected severe accidents. To prevent the recurrence from holding such an assumption, organizational culture for nuclear safety led by top management and followed by all employees will be a key issue. Top management of Japanese nuclear operators have been making much efforts to improve their corporate culture, not only complying with the regulatory standards but also enhancing self-regulated excellence. This paper introduces their voluntary efforts in the light of human and organizational aspects and analyzes their ex-assumption and discusses measures to break negative thought chain. (author)