The 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station ended the safety myth of nuclear energy and significantly affected Japan’s nuclear and energy policies as a whole. This impact has also spread beyond Japan’s national borders, motivating some countries to move toward a non-nuclear society. At the same time, conversations have continued around the use of nuclear energy in an effort to contend with climate change as well as the potential opportunities for international cooperation to safely manage nuclear energy and the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Given these continued global concerns, the time has come to re-examine lessons learned, including issues that were not addressed in the accident investigation report, and share these findings with stakeholders in Japan and around the world.

In recognition of the 10th anniversary in 2021, this project aims to put together the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident, explore safe use of nuclear energy going forward, and further promote international discussion. More specifically, this project will investigate the challenges of nuclear energy spanning from the short-term to long-term that were exposed through the Fukushima Daiichi accident in order to report on insights and recommendations drawn from the project’s extensive research.

Yuki Kobayashi