Lessons Learned from the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: Nuclear Security Perspectives

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear PowerStation (NPS), or the Fukushima Accident, was caused by thedevastating tsunami associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake.It demonstrated that total station blackout and loss ofcore cooling and spent fuel pool cooling should be preventedat the time of natural disasters. At the same time, it becameclear that a similar extensive nuclear accident could be causedby a terrorist attack on vital equipment that is essential formaintaining NPS power supply, core cooling, and spent fuelpool cooling. Thus the Advisory Committee on Nuclear Security(ACNS), established in December 2006 under the AtomicEnergy Commission of Japan (JAEC), initiated the review ofFukushima Accident to extract lessons learned from nuclear securityperspectives and made a report to JAEC in November2011, summarizing the result of its review and recommendingappropriate measures to overcome nuclear security vulnerabilitiesthat have been identified by the Fukushima Accident. Thispaper presents the content of the ACNS report and the responseof the relevant Japanese government agencies and licensees to itsrecommendations.