Special Issue: Aging Management of Nuclear Power Plant

Even after the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the Japanese government has positioned nuclear power as an important base load power source in terms of energy policies and has focused on safety operation of the nuclear power generation. This is because it is an indispensable power source for the use of renewable energy in Japan with limited resources. On the other hand, the first generation commercial reactors in the world generally have a designed life of 30 to 40 years, but most of them have been in existence for more than 20 years. Japan is no exception, and several NPPs aged already more than 40 years.