President KODAMA Toshio was awarded l'Ordre national du Mérite,
Officier Classe Award
Apr. 23, 2021
Japan Atomic Energy Agency
The French Republic bestowed l'Ordre national du Mérite (The National Order of Merit), Officier Classe Award to President KODAMA Toshio, JAEA. The conferment ceremony of decoration was held on Thursday, 22nd April at the French Embassy in Minato-ku, Tokyo.
L'ordre national du Mérite, established by décret on 3rd December 1963, is a decoration awarded by the French government upon the decision of the President, along with l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur.
Highlights of accomplishments:
President KODAMA has been leading Japan's nuclear research and development with his strong leadership including technical contribution to the decommissioning of TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
In the global context, he has promoted extensively JAEA's international cooperation at various international fora, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA).
In the area of the bilateral relations with France, President KODAMA contributed enormously to strengthen industrial partnership between the two countries during his tenure at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Since his days as an engineer at Mitsubishi, he has highly valued the quality of nuclear research and development of France and the role it has played in the relevant fields, and has advocated and promoted stronger ties between Japan and France. In particular, he played a key role in achieving “The General Arrangement on Fast Reactor Development Cooperation between Japan and France”, which was signed on the occasion of the official visit of the then French President Emmanuel Macron to Japan in June 2019.
