Episode 1 – Japan

Tokyo

After a brief stay in the office of the JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), which grants a select few foreign companies an office and provides some advice for up to 100 days, Julien finally moved into the offices of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (CCIFJ), located in Tokyo, on September 1st.

This relocation offers stability in the long term and heralds the birth of Onet Technologies’ “Representative Office” in Japan. This office is located in the Nihonbashi Honsho area of Chuo, one of the central districts of Tokyo, close to our customers’ headquarters.

Kobe

Further to the south and to the west, our three ongoing projects with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) are in full swing.

The first few compliance assessment certificates were granted by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) for elbow and straight pipes in the frame of project TP900. Obtaining these “golden tickets” of a sort for Nuclear Pressurised Equipment (NPE) is especially worthy of praise considering that some components were rejected and remade after deliberations between no less than 6 stakeholders (the ASN; Bureau Veritas, the certification company; EDF, the customer; Japan Steel Works, the steelworks company; MHI, the manufacturer, and its partner, OT). The ASN requested the lessons learnt were shared with the AFCEN, the association publishing the Rules for design and construction used during this process.

Some pipes from the primary circuit, equipped with RIS connectors, were also discarded and had to be manufactured a second time. Even though the regulatory background of this project, project PRIS 900, is quite different from project TP900 (EDF handles the design and manufacturing aspects), the constant communication between the stakeholders also allowed for a very quick production cycle of the redesigned components. The accompanying production documents have been thoroughly compiled and there is good hope that the stringent terms of the RCC-M Rules will be satisfied.

Steam generators are under construction in MHI’s workshops. During this phase, the dialogue with the ASN never stops, covering topics such as the technical certification of the components (the historical expertise of the ASN because of the NPE regulations), the videoconference inspections (COVID preventing in-person visits), CFSI (counterfeit, fraudulent, and suspect items) management for the manufacturers, and the integration of the lessons learnt on similar manufacturing processes with other subcontractors. And, of course, in the background, the ever-present risk assessment analysis by the certification company APAVE, a cornerstone of the NPE regulations and a proof of compliance with the critical safety requirements.

However, October is also the month of pétanque tournaments in the area, making it the perfect occasion to take a few days off and enjoy a slice of Marseilles in her Japanese twin city.

Florent ROULET is hoping to win again a Cup as nice as this one: Won in “triplette” during an official competition which counted for the National Tournament. Just for the record, with a perfect score in the Final: 13-0.

Projects and successes

The first edition of this newsletter was hopeful – hopeful that future successes would come and act as a confirmation of the trust of our Japanese customers in our capabilities and as a cornerstone for future developments. That hope became reality.

Our R&D project for the collection and filtration of the dust and fumes generated while cutting corium is over: our Japanese customers expressed high levels of satisfaction and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) allocated OT new funds. This grant shall be used for the development of a new technology designed to answer a similar yet equally important safety concern: the coating of the corium and neighbouring structures (e.g. using resins) in order to prevent dust and fumes from being generated when dismantling the Fukushima Daiichi NPP’s reactors. This new project started at the end of June 2021 and is scheduled to end in March 2023.

Moreover, ONET Technologies now has a new customer, IHI. This company solicited ONET Technologies’ expertise in remote-controlled decommissioning over the summer and, in a study delivered in August, OT helped assess the complexity of removing obstacles inside the reactor buildings of Fukushima Daiichi NPP using remote-controlled tools. The expected future works will aim at clearing access points and areas needed for installing the reactors’ dismantling cells.

IHI is a major player in the Japanese manufacturing industry, created over 160 years ago and counting close to 30 000 employees for about 10 B€ in revenue. Its nuclear engineering business unit has manufactured heavy components for Japan’s nuclear fleet. IHI’s growing involvement in nuclear decommissioning and waste management activities is particularly striking at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.

EPM has also been successful, delivering studies concerned with restarting the Japanese nuclear fleet. These studies would support business opportunities, notably with a power plant inspection process for TEPSYS, a subsidiary of TEPCO, and a preliminary study for a probabilistic safety assessment (of which EPM is an expert) for the Tokai 2 NPP, operated by JAPC.