Watch Professor Robin Grimes and Dr Keith Franklin discuss the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and what it means for UK businesses.
Since the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of March 11, 2011, in North-eastern Japan, safety has been of utmost concern to prospective UK companies looking to expand their business in Japan. Here at The British Embassy Tokyo we invited Professor Robin Grimes, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and Dr Keith Franklin, Head Nuclear Team at the British Embassy Tokyo, to share their expert views on the ongoing situation at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Professor Grimes, a nuclear energy specialist and Professor of Material Physics at Imperial College, addressed questions surrounding the issue of radiation by illustrating that the risks associated are in fact “no greater than back in the UK.” He dispelled any unfounded fears by saying that “my response is, there is no concern.”
Dr Franklin, who has worked closely with Tepco and is seconded from the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) in the UK, raised the issue of food and drinks with regards to contamination. Professor Grimes again reiterated his view that UK businesses should have no reason to worry.
Although there are still considerable operational problems to be dealt with at the Fukushima site, both speakers agreed that there are no health risks and that the amount of radiation detectable in foods are, as Professor Grimes put it, “astoundingly small.”
“The best way to describe it is that Fukushima Daiichi is no longer a power station having a bad day, it’s a decommissioning site having a normal day,” Dr Franklin said, pointing out that a decommissioning site will face different issues to a power station.
Read this article for a detailed look at how the UK responded to Fukushima and the effect it has had on Anglo-Japanese relations.
Click here for more information about how UK companies can engage in the Nuclear industry in Japan.
Send Us Your Enquiry to see if you could be doing business in Japan.
June 2014
