| description abstract | I would like to say New Year's greetings to all the readers of the Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science.Before the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, 54 nuclear power plants were used in Japan to produce about 30% of the total electricity. After the severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, mainly caused by the massive tsunami, the nuclear power plants in Japan were shut down one by one and the last one (Tomari Nuclear Power Station Unit No. 3) was shut down in May 2012. By the end of 2018, however, 15 nuclear-power reactors passed the new regulation standard issued in 2013, and nine of them have been restarted. As a result, the ratio of the electricity produced by nuclear power plants was recovered to about 5% by 2018. The ratio of the renewable energy is increasing yearly, but the ratio in 2018 was 8% for the hydro power, 6% for the solar power, 2% for the biomass, and 1% for the wind power. The remaining 78% was produced by the thermal power (coal-fired plants 28%, natural gas-fired plants 37%, oil-fired plants 4%, and others 9%). From the viewpoint of mitigation of the global warming, dependence on fossil fuel should be reduced. Although it is expected that the ratio of the solar power and the wind power will continue to increase, the power from these sources is affected by weather conditions greatly and furthermore the development of efficient and large-capacity power storage system is still a very challenging issue. Under these circumstances, nuclear power is an important option to achieve stable supply of a large amount of electricity without greenhouse-gas emission. The Japanese government also recognizes the importance of the nuclear power and considers the desirable ratio of electricity from nuclear power in 2030 is 20–22%. Needless to say from the disaster experienced in Fukushima, continuous effort (Kaizen) for enhanced safety is indispensable to use nuclear power as the power source. The ASME Journal of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science is a very important scientific journal to share the latest research developments in the field of nuclear engineering and radiation science within the specialists in the nuclear/power engineering areas of industry, academia, and government. It is believed that the journal continues to contribute to the enhanced safety of nuclear power. | |
