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://en.dccc-program.jp/files/20190304PMSE.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.

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.

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.

When it corresponds to “those listed below… permitted to include the consumption tax in the expenses covered by the subsidy when calculating the amount of subsidy” described in “11. Allocation of Expenses (3)”, calculate the grant amount with 10% consumption tax rate at the time of application.

If you place an order over the fiscal year, it may be necessary to make adjustments depending on the national budgetary situation. On the application documents, please indicate the year in which payment will occur, and indicate that it will be an order that crosses the fiscal year. In actual execution, PMO will consult individually.

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

Please associate the implementation items described in the implementation plan with the implementation year. At that time, please describe items that will be implemented across the fiscal year so that they can be understood.

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.

If you cannot come to the venue for the presentation, please contact us in advance so that you can make a presentation via a Web conference, a TV conference and such. In such a case, however, the applicant may take risks of bad connection, etc.

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.

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 is planned to be held on May 27, 2019.

The number of planned adoption is one or more. The specific number of adoption has not been decided.

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.

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, remunerations, rent/depreciation and other necessities) as described in Exhibit 2 of the Grand Policy for Subsidy.

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.

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.

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

When an entity expects a delay of the implementation, please inform PMO of it as soon as possible. We would consider how to cope with.

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. 　

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.

It is possible to exchange information with Tokyo Electric Power Company after the start of the project. PMO will make coordination as necessary.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

Aging of fuel debris has not occurred in TMI-2. However, aging has occurred in Chernobyl, and debris has become dust. It is also one of the purposes of this project to clarify the boundaries of whether aging will occur or not. Therefore, it is also an outcome of this project that no aging has occurred.

There was a power outage at the accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Therefore, temperature data was not recorded, and it is unclear to what degree the temperature has risen. In this project, it is important to prepare fuel debris with uniform composition. Therefore, prepare simulated debris by raising the temperature to such extent that such debris can be simulated. The Operating Entity should choose the heating method.

Yes.

Normally, simulated fuel debris is created by mixing the powder of UO2, FeO and ZrO in specific proportions and heating. If heating is insufficient, there is a possibility that not all dissolves. If the powder remains without being dissolved, it cannot be determined whether the powder found after the examination was generated by the examination or the sample itself is bad. So, “uniform” do not mean to make the composition uniform, but to dissolve enough not remaining powder.

About (ⅰ), it assumes composition in current PCV. So, nitrogen/oxygen = 100/0 because PCV is charged with nitrogen.
About (ⅲ), in the future, when containing the fuel debris, it will be an air atmosphere. So, nitrogen/oxygen = 80:20.
About (ⅱ), when retrieving the fuel debris, it is planned to be negative pressure inside the PCV in order to prevent the dust from scattering. If negative pressure is maintained, it will be an air atmosphere in PCV. However, as hydrogen will be generated by radiolysis of water, it is considered to continue to be charged with nitrogen in order to avoid the hydrogen explosion. It is not decided how much nitrogen PCV will be charged with, and it is unclear what percentage of oxygen concentration will be when nitrogen is injected while remaining PCV negative pressure. But it is considered that oxygen concentration will be between 0% and 20%. Please set the mixing ratio of nitrogen/oxygen by yourself.

It is not possible to combine the conditions of (i) and (ii) into one task. Please conduct the test with each condition. Oxygen concentration in-air and in-water is important when considering the oxidation and elution of materials. When oxygen is reduced in water, oxygen in air is dissolved in water to equilibrate depending on oxygen partial pressure in air. If oxygen is dissolved in water, electrical potential of water rise and elution of metal ions is promoted. So, it is important whether oxygen is present in air. Please measure oxygen concentration in-air and in-water in this project.

The description of the Guidelines is intended to want entity to study the influence of the content rate of Zr on the fuel debris stability because Zr may be a factor in the stability from the experience of TMI-2. So, it is not the purpose to create a stabilized sample by mixing several elements. About the simulated fuel debris, Zr should be added because a cladding tube include Zircaloy, and Si should be added because percentage of Si of the fuel debris in Chernobyl was about 40%, and Fe should be added because the surrounding structural material is made of stainless steel. So, when creating simulated fuel debris, the base of such debris is U-Zr-Si-Fe-Ca-O. Please investigate and decide by yourself whether the composition should be changed among these six elements or elements that have less influence on aging should be added to a matrix.

It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of factors because such list has not been created. In Guidelines for applying, the type of data to be acquired in the test is indicated, but we want the entity to consider the influence factor on the data. It is considered that influence factors depend on environmental conditions, so please investigate based on environmental conditions which is described in (2)(i)(ii)(iii). If you understand that concentration of dissolved oxygen is changed by many factors, it is better to propose a test including the method of minimizing the effect on dissolved oxygen concentration and the method of focusing those factors.