Had a productive week in Japan attending the 2025 OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Information, Data, and Knowledge Management (IDKM) Symposium in Yokohama, and visiting the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP).
Really grateful for the opportunity to learn more about the best practices and the state-of-the-art technology for IDKM regarding radioactive waste management. There were numerous valuable takeaways from the discussions with and presentations by the network of experts in IDKM, radioactive waste management, information technology, communication, archiving, policy and decision making, and other stakeholders from different parts of the world.
I am also still in awe of the fact that I was at 'ground zero' of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident that followed the 2011 Tōhoku (Great East Japan) earthquake and tsunami. I have had to read up about it extensively to deliver university lectures on the geology of the earthquake and its aftermath, but seeing it in person hits differently. The site tour has given me an inexplicable additional dimension to my understanding of what unfolded in the region. I also gained a better appreciation of the immensity of the decommissioning efforts at the FDNPP, including fuel removal, contaminated water management, and waste storage.
Appreciate the efforts of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO), and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. for making the symposium and site visit possible ! (FDNPP Photo Source: Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.)
