Developing Safer Nuclear Reactors

Akihabara News (Tokyo) — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy are developing next-generation nuclear reactors which are designed to be safer than the technology involved in the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster.

These two initiatives are proceeding separately, but they are both seen as responses to the Japanese government’s renewed interest in increasing nuclear power production as a response to soaring energy costs from the Ukraine crisis.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced in late September its plan to develop a pressurized water reactor. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced shortly thereafter its own plan to design a new nuclear reactor with enhanced safety features.

In the case of its project, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has joined hands with four major utilities–Kansai Electric Power, Hokkaido Electric Power, Shikoku Electric Power, and Kyushu Electric Power–to develop an advanced reactor with a 1.2GW output.

The firm hopes to complete this project in the mid-2030s.

Pressurized water reactors are a type of light water reactor system which uses ordinary water as the moderator and coolant. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has previously developed nuclear reactors of this kind, but states that the new generation will have additional safety features based upon enhanced regulatory safety standards.

These new standards specifically aim to incorporate lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In the event of a mishap, the probability of large-scale radioactivity release is believed to be much lower.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is also promoting the notion that its new reactors will help Japan reach its carbon reduction targets.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has emphasized the importance of “gaining the understanding of the public” regarding its re-emphasis on nuclear power within Japan’s comprehensive energy strategy.

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