Achieving a Nuclear Industry Safety Culture Post-Fukushima Chuck Casto: Solving a Core Problem Date: Wednesday, October 8, 2014 Time: Door opens at 7:00pm, Program starts at 7:30pm Venue: Temple University Japan Campus, Mita Hall 5F (access: tuj.ac.jp/maps/tokyo.html) Speaker: Chuck Casto, Former NRC Administrator and US Government Liaison during the Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Moderator: Kyle Cleveland, Associate Director of ICAS Admission: Free. Open to public Language: English RSVP: [email protected] * If you RSVP you are automatically registered. If possible, we ask you to RSVP but we always welcome participants even you do not RSVP. * RSVPなしでも参加できますので、直接会場へお越しください。 Overview Since 3.11, nuclear energy in Japan has continued to face challenges. With ongoing difficulties in decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, and reactor restarts delayed by public opposition and a newly conceived regulatory structure that has brought scrutiny to Japans nuclear industry as never before, the future of nuclear energy in Japan remains uncertain. To address these issues and discuss the implications of the Fukushima disaster for the nuclear industry, this event will feature Dr. Charles Chuck Casto, who led the integrated US Government and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) efforts in Japan during the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011. Working directly with U.S. Ambassador Roos, and coordinating with the NRC’s Emergency Operations Center in the U.S., he represented the United States Government to the Japanese Prime Minister’s Cabinet. In the aftermath of the Japan nuclear disaster, having participated in the scrutiny of his own governments actions during the Japan crisis in lessons-learned reports and intra-agency initiatives to incorporate these lessons into the NRC’s procedures and industry protocols, Dr. Casto has considerable experience in dealing with the complexities of nuclear energy policy. In this lecture, Dr. Casto will discuss his experiences working crisis management in coordination with the Japanese government and Daiichi staff during the dramatic early days of the Fukushima disaster, and offer his insight into how a culture of safety may be developed in Japan that incorporates community concerns, recognizes the contributions that nuclear power may provide to Japans energy needs and understands the necessity of a rigorous regulatory structure with proper governmental oversight. Speaker As a former NRC licensed plant operator at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant (a Mark I design BWR similar in design to those at Daiichi), and the NRC’s sole Deputy Regional Administrator for Nuclear Power Plant construction inspection at the time of the accident, he was uniquely positioned to offer his insight to the workings of the Fukushima reactors at this time, and worked closely with plant manager Yoshida and consulted with members of the Japanese government crisis management team, including Prime Minister Kan himself, and Goshi Hosono, Japans Nuclear Accident Minister. After serving for 11 months in Japan as the U.S. government’s lead nuclear representative during the crisis, Dr. Casto received the Presidential Distinguished Award (2012) from President Obama (for his contributions to the U.S. government, he previously received the Meritorious Rank Award (2009) from President Bush). Subsequent to his experience in Japan, Casto was named NRC Regional Administrator, Region III, overseeing 23 reactors in eight states as one of the senior administrators for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Upon his retirement in 2013, he completed a Doctorate in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University (Georgia), the title of which is Crisis Management: A Qualitative Study of Extreme Event Leadership.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 05:36:24 +0000