The Nuclear Industry Seminars—jointly sponsored by JAIF and the Kansai Nuclear Council (known familiarly in Japanese as “Kan Gen Kon”)—have been staged annually since 2006 for the purposes of supporting the ensuring of nuclear human resources and promoting understanding of the nuclear industry. This time, they took place in Osaka and Tokyo on October 5 and 14, respectively, primarily aimed at students expecting to get degrees from colleges and graduate schools, as well as National Institutes of Technology (NITs), in 2026.
The total number of visitors to the two sites this year was 433 (up slightly from last year’s 430). Between the two, 89 companies and organizations (85 last year) staffed booths at the events―the highest total since they began in 2006. Under current circumstances, new graduates and other young workers looking for a job are enjoying a seller’s market (with demand for workers outstripping the supply), and the success of the seminars reflects the increase in the appetite for hiring of the companies in the Japanese nuclear industry.
At both seminars, the visitors were given a questionnaire containing various questions. Of the total respondents, 85% said that they were willing to work in the nuclear industry, while 96% said that the seminars had helped them gain a better understanding of the industry. Masui commended their strong enthusiasm, saying that their reactions were “generally favorable.” He additionally noted that the students had come well prepared—that is, they had researched about the Japanese nuclear industry in advance—and that he intended to use future seminars as “important occasions” for attracting human resources to the nuclear industry.
On October 23 and 24, meanwhile, the 10th East Asia Nuclear Forum was held in Dunhuang, China. As the first in-person gathering of the forum in five years, this year’s event enjoyed the attendance of some 60 people from JAIF, the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), and the Taiwan Nuclear Grade Industry Association (TNA). The participants exchanged information on the following issues, among others:
- The current state of each country’s nuclear energy industry.
- Activities to improve safety.
- The role of nuclear energy in countering climate change.
- The management of radioactive waste.
Besides telling the reporters at the November 1 press conference about the programs of each of the Forum’s sessions, Masui also described the technical tours taken by the participants to the Beishan underground research laboratory, a research facility on high-level radioactive waste (HLW) disposal, and a 100MW-class molten-salt, tower-type solar thermal power plant in the Gobi Desert, situated about 20km west of Dunhuang.
The solar-panel plant site―whose area measures 5.7 km2 or so―features a candle-shaped tower 260m high at its center, surrounded by 12,000 separate mirror units following the angle of the sun during daylight hours so as to collect and concentrate solar heat. Masui commented objectively on the plant’s grand scale, adding that he subjectively had found it “extremely impressive.”
As the JAIF president regularly attends the national government’s Nuclear Energy Subcommittee, under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, as a special member, he also explained to the reporters at the November 1 press conference about his remarks that he had given at that subcommittee’s most recent meetings, on October 16 and 30.
Masui said that when attending both subcommittee meetings, he delivered his remarks from the perspective of the nuclear industry, emphasizing the importance of maintaining and strengthening supply chains. Asked by a reporter at the recent press conference about the issues involved, he noted three in particular:
- Whether alternative products or sources exist.
- Whether sufficient quantities of products can be gotten.
- Whether the production of a particular item requires specific skills.
