Japan’s Quest for Nuclear Energy and the Price It Has Paid: Accidents, Consequences, and Lessons Learned for the Global Nuclear Industry

Japan’s Quest for Nuclear Energy and the Price it has Paid: Accidents, Consequences, and Lessons Learned for the Global Nuclear Industry identifies major accidents in Japan that have happened at different stages of the nuclear fuel cycle in Japan, assesses the underlying causes of nuclear accidents, and identifies other systemic problems in the nuclear industry. It provides recommendations on how government, industry and academic institutions can work together toward achieving a zero-accident safety culture.

Reviews the history of Japan’s nuclear programs and commercial activities from the 1950s to the presentDescribes the underlying causes of major accidents that have afflicted Japan’s nuclear industry, along with consequences, including technical difficulties, costs and program delaysOutlines the evolution of nuclear policies promoted by competing bureaucracies and how these rivalries influenced program priorities and impeded safety

1. Beginnings: Japan Aims High 2. Successes and Failures of Big National Projects 3. Commercialization of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle 4. The Build-Out of Japan’s Nuclear Power Industry 5. The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster 6. Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal 7. Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities 8. Status and Health of Japan’s Nuclear Industry 9. Achieving a Zero-Accident Nuclear Culture

Appendix A. Cancelled Nuclear Power Reactors B. Impact of Accident Costs on Cost of Power (in MWh) C. Acronyms and Abbreviations