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タイ在住11年目、妻はタイ人、娘が2人、養女が2人

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Nuclear fuel cycle project faces crucial juncture for its continuation
もんじゅ勧告へ　核燃サイクル継続へ正念場だ

The nuclear fuel cycle project is an important pillar of Japan’s energy policy. For the fuel cycle project to continue, there is an urgent need to rebuild its system.
　核燃料サイクル事業は日本のエネルギー政策の重要な柱だ。その継続のためには、体制の立て直しが急務である。

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) decided Wednesday that the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), which oversees Monju, the fast breeder reactor, is not capable of operating and managing the reactor.
　高速増殖炉「もんじゅ」の運営主体である日本原子力研究開発機構について、原子力規制委員会が「十分な能力がない」との判断を示した。

The NRA has also decided to issue a recommendation to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, which supervises the agency, to find an entity to take over operations and management of Monju from the JAEA within six months.
　監督官庁の文部科学省に対しては、半年をメドに別の運営主体を探すよう勧告することを決めた。

If the ministry fails to find a new entity, the NRA will call on the ministry to drastically reexamine what to do with Monju in the future.
新たな運営主体が見つからない場合には、もんじゅの在り方を抜本的に見直すことを求める。

Unlike an ordinary nuclear reactor, Monju is a special reactor that uses sodium as coolant. It will not be easy to find a new entity to take over its operations.
　一般の原子炉とは異なり、もんじゅは、ナトリウムを冷却材に使う特殊な炉だ。新たな担い手を探すのは容易ではあるまい。

The NRA’s decision to issue the recommendation can be viewed as a way of keeping pressure on the science and technology ministry to take rigorous measures, including the possibility of decommissioning Monju.
　規制委の勧告決定は、廃炉の可能性を含めて、文科省に厳しい対応を迫る内容と言えよう。

Monju achieved criticality for the first time in 1994. Following a sodium leak accident in 1995, however, the reactor has hardly been put into operation.
　もんじゅは１９９４年に初臨界を達成した。だが、９５年にナトリウム漏えい事故が起きた後は、ほとんど運転できていない。

In November 2012, when the reactor was in preparation for its restart, the NRA conducted an on-site inspection at the facility and found that the agency’s safety checks, including the setting of regular inspection periods, for about 10,000 out of nearly 50,000 pieces of equipment at the plant, were not appropriate. In May 2013, the NRA ordered the agency to suspend the preparatory work for restarting the reactor.
　運転再開の準備中だった２０１２年１１月、立ち入り調査した原子力規制庁は、５万点近くある機器のうち、約１万点の点検期間の設定などが適切ではないと指摘した。規制委は１３年５月、運転準備作業の停止を命じた。

Poor report card

Even after that, the agency was criticized repeatedly for inadequate safety inspections, while engineering staff at the plant dealt with the problems only belatedly.
　その後も、点検の不備が相次いで問題視され、現場の技術陣の対応も後手に回った。

Undeniably, there is a problem with the agency’s capability in dealing with the issues. It is understandable for the NRA to criticize the agency, saying, “The JAEA had been explaining that things would be improved, but it has been failing to achieve results.”
　原子力機構の対処能力に問題があることは否定できまい。規制委が「原子力機構は改善すると説明してきたが、結果が伴わない」と批判したのは、無理もない。

The responsibility of the science and technology ministry, which failed to improve this situation, is also extremely grave.
　事態を改善できなかった文科省の責任も極めて重い。

In its Strategic Energy Plan approved by the Cabinet in April last year, the government heralded once again the promotion of the nuclear fuel cycle. The government judged that changing the policy of promoting the nuclear fuel cycle would make it difficult for the nation to make effective use of a nuclear power generation in the future.
　政府は、昨年４月に閣議決定したエネルギー基本計画で、核燃料サイクルの推進を改めて掲げた。政策を変更すれば、将来にわたる原子力発電の有効活用が困難になると判断したためだ。

Meanwhile, the government considers Monju as a nuclear reactor essential to test such capabilities as efficiently reprocessing radioactive waste.
　もんじゅについては、放射性廃棄物を効率良く燃やす性能などを試験するために不可欠な原子炉と位置付けている。

The latest development may create a hole in the Strategic Energy Plan. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference Wednesday, “The science and technology ministry should solve the issue promptly.” But measures to rebuild the system for the nuclear fuel cycle project should be discussed from a broad perspective by the government as a whole.
　今回の事態は、基本計画に綻びを生じさせかねない。菅官房長官は記者会見で、「文科省が速やかに解決すべきだ」と述べたが、政府として、立て直しに向けた打開策を幅広く検討すべきだ。

Many of the engineers who were in active service when Monju was constructed have already retired. The present plight shows the importance of maintaining and passing on technical knowledge. The NRA has also presented a viewpoint that a “deterioration in technical expertise” has made the matter more serious.
　もんじゅ建設時の技術陣の多くは既に退職している。現在の苦境は、技術を維持・継承していくことの重要性を物語る。規制委も「技術の劣化」が、事態を深刻化させているとの見解を示した。

Measures to foster human resources engaged in nuclear power also need reinforcing.
　原子力に携わる人材の育成策も強化せねばなるまい。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 5, 2015)