Japanese utilities Tokyo Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power Company have today signed a basic agreement with Hitachi and Toshiba to discuss potential collaboration on boiling water reactors (BWRs).

British nuclear services company Cavendish Nuclear has been awarded a contract by Japan Atomic Energy Agency to support decommissioning of the Monju prototype fast breeder reactor. Cavendish, a subsidiary of Babcock International Group, has been involved in the ongoing decommissioning of the fast reactors at the UK's Dounreay site.

Tokyo Electric Power Company will consider the decommissioning of one or more units at its seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the company has informed Kashiwazaki City Mayor Masahiro Sakurai. The utility plans to restart units 6 and 7 at the plant, in Japan's Niigata Prefecture.

Tohoku Electric Power Company has applied to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority for approval of its decommissioning plan for unit 1 of the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture. The company announced in October 2018 its decision to scrap the unit as it said required safety upgrades would be too expensive and time-consuming.

Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company today announced its official decision to decommission the four reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, close to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant. The company said in June 2018 that it was considering decommissioning the plant in conjunction with Fukushima Daiichi in response to local demands for a decision on the fate of the site.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan is considering changes that would make the clearance of radioactive material about ten times stricter than international standards, creating unnecessary confusion and cost, writes Dr Charlotta Sanders, senior project manager at World Nuclear Association.

Japan's Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation and AECOM of the USA have agreed to collaborate in providing decommissioning services to nuclear power plants in Japan.

Nuclear power reactors in Japan that have resumed operation could be forced to temporarily shut down again if back-up safety measures are not in place by specified deadlines under new rules approved by the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority. Operators of restarted units have already said they expect delays in the completion of such facilities.

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has used the experience it has gained from developing robots for inspecting nuclear power plants in accident situations to develop an explosion-proof robot for inspecting and monitoring industrial facilities. A prototype EX ROVR robot has been tested at a Japanese oil refinery.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe visited the Fukushima Daiichi site today as the process to remove used fuel from unit 3 officially began. It has taken several years for Tepco to remove debris from the reactor building service floor and prepare for this work to reduce the hazard at the accident site.

Some residents of Okuma, the closest town to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, have today been allowed to return home. The evacuation order issued in 2011 has been lifted for the more mountainous and less inhabited western area, where around 380 of the town's former population of 10,500 lived.

Japan's leading business group has called for accelerated restarts of reactors, with the years spent offline to be added back onto their lifespans. The Japan Business Federation called for clarity in energy policy beyond 2030 to support development of the power sector to reflect significant social change.