March 11, 2012
One year ago today, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The tragic event
resulted in 15,850 deaths, over 6000 injuries, more than 3000 missing and countless
billions in property damage. While this disaster weighed heavily upon the heart of so
many, it particularly resonates with those of us in the nuclear industry. As we know, the
tsunami challenged many of Japan’s nuclear power plants and precipitated a series of
events leading to significant damage of the Fukushima Dai-ichi site.
The leadership of the U.S. nuclear power industry has developed a steering committee to
oversee the implementation of lessons learned from Fukushima. Concurrently, the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. government oversight agency, has engaged in
rigorous evaluations of the U.S. fleet of plants as well as an action plan for adding
additional layers of safety precautions across the board. The Canadian Nuclear Safety
Commission has completed the Fukushima Task Force Report that confirms the safety of
Canadian nuclear power plants as well as providing recommendations to further enhance
safety in response to this event. The global nuclear power community is unified in the
continual effort to share lessons learned. As the next generation of leaders in the
nuclear power industry, NA-YGN is committed to our shared goal of ensuring the events at
Fukushima are not repeated in our future or in our children’s future.
North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) has spent the past year working to
learn from the events in Japan. Since March of 2011, NA-YGN has coordinated webinars and
held numerous professional development sessions to educate young professionals about the
events at Fukushima. Our members reached out to speak with the public about the events at
Fukushima: from our 4th and 5th grade drawing contest presentations all the way to Hill
Day meetings with policymakers at the U.S. Capitol and Canadian Parliament. NA-YGN will
continue to promote similar activities in the coming year and maintain a leadership role
in ensuring safety and security within our industry.
On this day, I ask each of you to keep in your thoughts and prayers the people of Japan
who have lost so much. We should also reflect upon what each of us as an individual can
do in this next year to engage the public in intelligent discourse about the events at the
Fukushima Dai-ichi site and the commitment our industry has for a safe future. It will
only be through respectful dialogue and a continued commitment to safe operation that we
will be able to reinvigorate the public faith in nuclear science and technology. The
Japanese people have already demonstrated the strength and resilience to rebuild. Let us
take their example as an inspiration for our own efforts looking forward as young
professionals in nuclear.
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Duncan Robinson
President, North American – Young Generation in Nuclear
NA-YGN serves as the largest grassroots organization in the world for young professionals
in nuclear science and technology. For more information, visit us at
www.na-ygn.org<http://www.na-ygn.org>.
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