Yes, any overseas companies are eligible for application independently as long as they satisfy the requirements set forth in article 6. Application Requirements in the Guidelines of the Subsidy Program, such as “(The entities) ensure organizations for properly conducting the relevant subsidized project.”, “(The entities) have the capacity, knowledge and experience required for conducting the relevant subsidized project”, etc.

METI and PMO will NOT use the contents of application documents submitted for other purposes than the evaluation/review. And we’ve made a non-disclosure agreement with all the members of the review committee. Nevertheless, you have to be noted that the information which has not been classified as confidential will be subject to disclosure as a response to the legal request for disclosure.
For the details of the private policy of this RFP, please refer to the “Private Policy” on the website below.
[URL]
https://dccc-program.jp/files/20210324PMSE.pdf

No, any costs for the application are not compensated.

If you need supplemental information, please contact us. We cannot assure we can provide all of the information you need; and if we provide the information, we will release this information on the website.

This organization is also eligible as long as it satisfies the requirements of stipulated in Item 6 in the Guidelines.

We can accept proposals submitted by JVs. If you would like to apply for this project as a JV, please describe the leading company and the implementation scheme on the designated form.

We will not accept any proposals not using the stipulated submission forms. Any other form will NOT be taken into account for the paper screening.

There is no limit of the number of pages for Application Form1 and From2.

No. You must find suitable partners and establish the implementation scheme by yourself.

The managing company (or managing organization) takes charge of establishment of the implementation plan, preparation and submission of the accomplishment report. Each companies and organizations composing the JV must be investigated for the settlement of the subsidy amount.

Yes, It is acceptable.

The requirement in the Grant Application Form2 “3. Financial basis and Management system” is the applicant’s financial basis It is not necessary to refer to the outsourcing company’s financial basis.

Please write who is a contact person for this proposal in Form 1, and representative telephone and facsimile number and e-mail address of your organization in Form 2 (Annex 2) Outline of your organization.

Please declare meeting qualification requirements etc. in Form 3. Please write what information you would like to obtain from other subsidized projects etc. and you can provide to other subsidized projects etc. during the implementation of the project in Form 4.

If you have received approval of Export administration regulations from METI, please present documents that can confirm the approval.

Please mark “〇” to the item “Not Required” and state the reason too.

Please attach the document of the project implementation scheme in “7. Requirement Conditions for Grant Decision (5)” to the results report after the end of the project. There is no need to include it in the application form.

Regarding outsourcing costs, please describe the breakdown for each work item scheduled for outsourcing.

When applying, it is not necessary to describe TEPCO in this chart.

If the subcontractors has not been determined, you may state that it is undetermined. If the subcontractors has been determined, please enter the name of the company or organization. There is no problems that the subcontractor is changed after the application.

The application documents shall firstly be evaluated by the review committee consisting of experts. Paper examination and if necessary, applicants’ oral presentation shall be also conducted.

You can add supplementary explanation at the presentation evaluation.

Regarding the presentation evaluation, remote presentation evaluation using web conference system is considered as a candidate for avoiding the spread of COVID-19. Detailed information will be notified after the paper screening.

The time of oral presentation may be changed according to the number of applicants.

This project is financed by Japanese governmental budget and is implemented in accordance with Japanese scheme and in compliance with Japanese laws. However, any Japanese companies will not be treated preferentially in the review process.

The “basic point” refers to the conditions which must absolutely be met; and the “additional points” refer to the items which give additional points if the contents of the proposal are excellent. Please note that if you fail to meet a “basic points” condition, you will be disqualified.

The contribution to local industrial development in these regions is not a condition necessary essential. This point corresponds to the additional judging respect.

Because conclusion of the non-disclosure agreement is one of the conditions of appointment of the members of the review committee, they won’t make use of the application documents for any other purpose other than for evaluation.

We will inform the entity having passed the paper screening of the result as soon as possible. The review committee plan to be held on some day from late April to mid-May.
Please refer to the following URL.
[URL]

The Second Solicitation of Entities for the “Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management” starting FY2021 [Released on March 24, 2021, Updated on April 21, 2021]

Detailed schedule will be notified after the paper screening.

Regarding the project “Development of Analysis and Estimation Technology for Characterization of Fuel Debris (Development of Estimation Technology of Aging Properties of Fuel Debris)”, the number of planned adoption is one or more. Regarding the project “Development of Technologies for Work Environmental Improvement in Reactor Building (Development of Exposure Reduction Technologies by Digitalization of Environment and Radioactive Source Distribution)”, “Development of Analysis and Estimation Technology for Characterization of Fuel Debris (Development of Technologies for Enhanced Analysis Accuracy, Thermal Behavior Estimation, and Abbreviated Analysis)”, “Development of Fuel Debris Retrieval Method (Development of Fuel Debris Dust Dispersion Suppression Technologies)”,”Development of Safety System (Acquisition of Dust Dispersion Data)”,”Development of Remote Maintenance Technologies for Remote Operation Devices”, and “Development of Assistive Technologies for Integration Management of Decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Development of Continuous Monitoring System in PCV)”, the number of planned adoption is one.

Basically, the payment will be made after the subsidy amount is settled following the completion of the subsidy project. However, depending on the entity’s circumstance, the payment by estimate before the completion of the project may be admitted.

In principle, the subsidies are paid after the project is completed. Cases where the payment (i.e. the payment by estimation) before the completion of the project may be permitted. If you would like to receive payment before the completion of the project, please contact PMO after an adoption decision is made.

PMO and implementing entities will have meetings, interim report and final report as well as progress report of the project as necessary. The frequency of meetings depends on the necessity of these meetings and reports.

Please see the latest list of the health insurance costs which is posted on our web site.

The paid amount will be settled after expiration of the project period, confirmation of the project result, and inspection for settlement of the amount by PMO. This procedure is formulated by Japanese accounting rules.

Please divide the necessary expenses into (1) labor costs and (2) operating costs (raw materials, consumables, design/fabrication/processing, facility/equipment, goods purchase, research, outsourcing, travel, remuneration, rent/depreciation and other necessities) as described in Exhibit 2 of the Grand Policy for Subsidy.

It is not necessary to divide the budget by year. And, it is possible to make an order with a contract period that exceeds over fiscal year.

The date of subsidization decision is still uncertain at this moment. After the selection results, we plan to make the decision to grant the subsidy promptly as soon as the submission of the application form for grant and the adjustment with PMO are completed.

The main change is the integration of commission fee and outsourcing cost, which were previously independent cost item, into one cost item as commission fee/outsourcing cost.

No, this subsidized project doesn’t fall under the “large-scale subsidy program designated in public solicitation guideline, etc.” in Subsidized Project Administration Manual.

The subsidized entity may decide whether to contain the clause “Payment based on Settlement” in the commission fee/outsourcing cost according to the contents of the work to be ordered.

The “project administration” described in “1. Purpose of Project” refers to the project management by TEPCO in the decommissioning works of the Fukushima Daiichi NPS. On the other hand, “project management” in “3. Operation of Research and Development (7)” refers to the project management by TEPCO in implementing this subsidy project.

We assume that the subsidized entity and the concerned organizations will share the information by the compilation of input and output information. If necessary, PMO will cooperate in coordinating between them, etc.

For the proposal, you can draw it up as your planned basis.

Please include the information to be requested to TEPCO to provide as “Input information”.

For the proposal, you can draw it up as your planned basis.

When you will order project related works to the companies which run business in the area Hamadori, Fukushima-Prefecture, you may offer a selective tendering or a single tendering.

For the exchange rate, if the subsidized entity has an in-house rule of exchange rate, it can be applied. Otherwise, the basic exchange rate of Japanese currency of Bank of Japan will be used. Please be noted that the subsidy can be paid only in Japanese yen after the determination of the amount. 　

If the subsidized entity sets foreign exchange rate by internal rule, please use the rate. Forward foreign exchange contract can also be allowed.

PMO may also request the necessary information. When information on the implementation of the project is obtained, the subsidized entity must also present them in a timely and appropriate manner.

As it is described in “3. Operation of research and development [8] Progress report “, you are required to report the project results, etc. to PMO on request.

For reasons of financial efficiency, in principle, subcontractor shall be subject to general competition or it is necessary to prepare a statement for selection stating clearly the reasons for selection. So, sole-source procurement cannot be accepted only by specifying the subcontractor’s name.

Please set the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) by yourself considering the technical details of your proposal.

The entities are the Agency for National Resources and Energy, Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation, Tokyo Electric Power Company.

In the case of information exchange between operating entities, this is when one or both business operators require a confidentiality agreement. If necessary, the secretariat will make adjustments when entering into a confidentiality agreement.

You may submit your subsidized project application without consultation with TEPCO. When you submit grant application, PMO will introduce to you TEPCO personnel. After that, adopted entities will consult with TEPCO.

Regarding the procedure for grant application for the subsidy, the contact point offices is within Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. (MRI). MRI proceeds the procedure of grant decision in consultation with Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (NDF). For more detailed information, please refer to “Grant Policy for Subsidy for the Project of Decommissioning and Contaminated Water Management”.

For other options, please prepare at the planning stage, if necessary, at your discretion.

In “11. (1) Classification of Expenses Covered by Subsidy”, the eligible costs are as follows.
Expenses for raw materials, consumables, design/fabrication/processing, facility/equipment(except for items corresponding to equipment expenses and rental and hire fees), research, outsourcing, other necessities (except for items corresponding to meeting expenses and assistant personnel costs).

If you don’t decide the company specifically when you submit the grant decision, please describe that you plan to working with these company and the contents of order.

It is planed to hold the interim and final report meetings about once every six months.

It is possible to give a presentation and the materials for report meetings in English.

Subsidized entity can announce activities and results related to the subsidized project in press releases and presentations at academic conferences on its own responsibility. Please inform the PMO in advance as much as possible.

As a general rule, please specify in the contract when placing an order that you will cooperate to the survey and not consider an entity which is subject to suspension of grant as the other party of the contract.

If there are some changes in the project plan due to extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the subsidized entity, please consult with PMO to discuss how to respond to the change of plan and accident report.

Investigation or hearing will be conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. If the resulting judgement falls under Article 18 of the Grant Policy for Subsidy “(3) the Subsidized Project Operating Entity has engaged in fraudulence, negligence, or any other inappropriate conduct with respect to the Subsidized Project”, the grant will be canceled.

The main changes are as follows;
・Article 5 (Application, etc. by E-mail) has been added to allow applicant to submit application forms by e-mail.
・Article 6 (Notification, etc. by E-mail) has been added to allow PMO to notify by e-mail.

No. Submission of the documents in electronic form via email and without signature is also acceptable. If the signed original documents are omitted, please enter name of manager, name of contact person in charge, and contact number of person in charge. PMO may contact you for confirmation if necessary.

As a result of past projects, it was found that differences in the chemical composition of fuel debris caused differences in the behavior of oxidation and dissolution. Therefore, it is assumed that there may be a boundary zone of chemical composition and/or environmental conditions to determine whether oxidation and/or dissolution occur or not. In this project, boundary conditions to determine whether fine particles of fuel debris generated or not should be investigated.

At present, it is unclear whether the dominant factors of fuel debris aging are chemical factors or physical factors, so it is difficult to narrow down the method. Proposals and investigations should be made to narrow down the area of factors that cause aging of fuel debris.

Yes, please investigate separately by “Unit 2” and “Units 1 and 3”. In Unit 2, the cooling water is flowing into, and trial retrieval of fuel debris may begin in 2022. On the other hand, in Unit 1 and Unit 3, fuel debris in the pedestal is currently under the water, and it is expected to take about 10 years until beginning of fuel debris retrieval. Since the elapsed years until fuel debris retrieval and the surrounding environment are different between “Unit 2” and “Units 1 and 3”, the research and development of this project should be conducted in consideration of these points.

Please estimate the condition of the inside the reactor of Unit 1 to 3 based on public information.

When you make the proposal, please select the methods which you expect to be applicable and consider a two-year implementation plan and budget. After the project begins, you should narrow down the analysis methods based on the opinions of experts or third-party organizations.

The initial plan was to analyze retrieved fuel debris during FY2022. However, due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors, the start of fuel debris retrieval was expected to be delayed, so it is not necessary to complete the improvement of analytic accuracy during FY2021. However, the validity of implementation plan will be examined.

“work site” refer to the work place where fuel debris retrieval is conducted at Fukushima Daiichi NPS.

Only comprehensive proposal is acceptable for this subsidized project.