U.S.-Japan R&D Collaboration on Safeguards, Nuclear Material Control and Accountability, and Nuclear Security in Restoration of Fukushima Daiichi

The United States and Japan have collaborated on nuclear safeguards for over thirty years. The U. S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and the U.S. National Laboratories have partnered with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) to find innovative safeguards solutions that better facilitate nuclear transparency and resolve complex verification issues in Japan and that help strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system as a whole. In the context of this collaboration, MEXT, JAEA, DOE/NNSA and the U.S. National Laboratories have initiated long-term R&D cooperation to address safeguards challenges resulting from the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant. This paper outlines the main areas of cooperation under discussion between these organizations related to Fukushima safeguards issues, to be carried out in three broad phases: preparation and initial studies; spent fuel removal from storage pools and preparation for core material removal; complete core material removal and preparation for decommissioning. The goal of this effort is for the United States and Japan to evaluate and jointly develop possible technologies to address safeguards issues at the Fukushima-Daiichi complex in a structured manner, in coordination with the multiple U.S., Japanese, and international organizations that are likely to be involved, including the IAEA.