OREANDA-NEWS. In Tokyo, on 16 December, 2016, Hiroshige Seko, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Hirokazu Matsuno, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, signed a memorandum of cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy. The Memorandum was signed in the presence of Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan and Vladimir  Putin, President of Russia.

One of the key cooperation areas specified in the Memorandum is the post-accident recovery at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, including radioactive waste management and possible decommissioning. Another major aspect in this memorandum is the emphasis put on  considering a joint Russian-Japanese platform setting-up, which is to study the possibilities of fostering human resources exchange and exchange of ideas aimed at  promoting innovative nuclear technologies based on the knowledge and the experience of the two countries.

The Memorandum serves as a tool to support and promote new mutually beneficial cooperation areas of business and scientific interest. It reflects further development and strengthening of the cooperation between the two countries in  the hi-tech area   of nuclear energy use. 

In Tokyo, on May 12, 2009, Japan and Russia signed an agreement on cooperation in peaceful uses of atomic energy. The agreement was ratified by the Parliament of Russia and the Parliament of Japan at the end of 2010 and on December 6, 2011, respectively. Under the agreement, the countries may cooperate in such areas as uranium exploration and mining; design, construction and operation of light water reactors; radioactive waste processing and management; nuclear safety including radiation protection and environmental control; research and application of radioisotopes and radiation; other areas based on additional written agreements between the parties.