Women in Nuclear (WiN) Annual Global Meeting in Tokyo :

Will Nuclear Power Be Chosen As Energy for the 21 st Century?

Exclusive Interview with WiN President Annick Carnino.

Nothing Is More Important than Communication and Transparency

Ms. Annick Carnino, the president of WiN Global, which includes members from 60 countries worldwide, has dedicated many years of her professional career to nuclear safety services in France. In addition, she has also assumed the position of manager for nuclear facility safety at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We interviewed her about the significance of this year's WiN Global Conference in Japan, as well as what is happening in Europe and the rest of the world with regard to nuclear energy.

Q1. Could you explain the significance of your organization's general assembly this year?

A1. We at WIN Global, an international network of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation applications, hold an annual general assembly in one of the member countries in Europe, the U.S., or Asia. The regions take turns hosting the meeting each year. We get together in one place in order to share and discuss a variety of topics of interest in the world, which we find greatly benefits us in terms of what individual members do professionally on a daily basis.

The activities of WiN are designed to win understanding regarding the fact that nuclear energy is useful not only for military purposes, but also for peaceful purposes in a broad range of sectors such as electric power generation, advanced medial services, and science and technology. Unfortunately to say, our society is still male-oriented, and this is also the case with the nuclear energy world. However, there are many cases where women can change social awareness from their perspective. In this sense, our meeting is also an international forum for information exchange among professional women working in the nuclear energy business environment.

Q2. This year's meeting seems to make a difference by providing your first symposium open to the public, where WIN members may meet citizens not involved in nuclear business, or women residing in regions were nuclear power plants are located.

A2. It is wonderful indeed. I had been thinking that we needed to have such an open meeting in order to exchange information with a broad range of people, instead of a closed forum for members only. Nothing is more important than communication and transparency in order to win better understanding regarding nuclear energy among people. I suppose that there should be a particularly strong public demand for transparency in a country like Japan, since it has had a series of scandals involving nuclear energy businesses. We hope that the Tokyo meeting provides an opportunity for many people to discuss a variety of issues toward public consensus building.

Q3. What do European people think about the awareness gap between where nuclear power plants are located and where electric power generated from nuclear energy is consumed?

A3. Talking about my experience, I think that French people share the common idea that it is unrealistic to build nuclear power plants in major cities. It is inevitable, therefore, that nuclear power plants are located far away from the location of energy consumption. The focus of this matter is not toward nuclear power plant locations, but towards the locations of storage and disposal of the radioactive waste. However, this common recognition remains unchanged by nature.

The importance here is that the government is deeply involved in decision-making and enforcement of its national policies. In France, the government establishes committees where nuclear power plants are located, which include members of local assemblies, media reporters and opinion leaders. In addition, government employees are dispatched to local representative offices to be engaged in activities to win public acceptance (PA) among local communities that are affected. The focus of PA efforts will probably be shifted toward nuclear waste issues worldwide. Because these are long-term issues, the government should be in the forefront of communication to citizens.

Q4. In the countries introducing deregulation into the electric power industry, the positioning of nuclear power generation is changing.

A4. That is true with regard to certain aspects of the issue, but I think that nuclear power generation will continue to be necessary even after industry deregulation. To achieve sustainable growth, we need to choose sources of energy with competitive advantages in terms of natural resources and the environment. From the aspect of a country's independence in terms of energy procurement today, nuclear energy is essential for both France and Japan. From the economic perspective, the current crude oil hike points to the importance of securing long-term stable electric power supply sources. The CO2-free energy source should help prevent global warming, as well as provide economic benefits in the future. Nuclear energy is also expected to provide an electric power source for hydrogen production.

In addition, nuclear fuel reprocessing has brought many benefits to France. The fourth-generation nuclear power reactor project, currently being discussed worldwide, includes a variety of options by anticipating the potentially changing environment in the future. Thus, I think it will be possible to continue to develop nuclear energy under such flexible circumstances in the future.