Monday, April 4, 2011
IAEA chief: Action needed to address nuclear fears
A waterworks investigator listens for underground leaks in Ofunato, Iwate prefecture.
The head of the UN nuclear agency called for international action to prevent a repetition of Japan's nuclear disaster, saying the operator of the crippled plant failed to take sufficient safety measures.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told a nuclear safety forum stricter standards and full transparency were vital to restoring public confidence in nuclear energy.
"The crisis at Fukushima Daiichi has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge," Amano said in an opening address to a two-week conference of nuclear regulators from 72 countries in Vienna.
Japan has been struggling for more than three weeks to stabilise a nuclear power plant severely damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The disaster has led to a rethink about the use of the technology around the world.
Although it was scheduled before the March 11 earthquake, the Vienna meeting to review the 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety was expected to be dominated by the need to strengthen global nuclear safety after Japan's emergency.
Asked whether lessons had been learnt from a 2007 earthquake that hit Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant and whether Fukushima could have been avoided, Amano said the latest tremor was much bigger and was also followed by a huge tsunami.
Both plants were operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), Asia's largest utility whose share price has crashed in recent weeks.
"Thinking retrospectively, the measures taken by the operators as safety measures were not sufficient to prevent this accident," Amano, a Japanese national, told a news conference.
He did not mention TEPCO, which has been criticised in Japan for its preparedness and response to the disaster, by name.
Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told a nuclear safety forum stricter standards and full transparency were vital to restoring public confidence in nuclear energy.
"The crisis at Fukushima Daiichi has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge," Amano said in an opening address to a two-week conference of nuclear regulators from 72 countries in Vienna.
Japan has been struggling for more than three weeks to stabilise a nuclear power plant severely damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The disaster has led to a rethink about the use of the technology around the world.
Although it was scheduled before the March 11 earthquake, the Vienna meeting to review the 1996 Convention on Nuclear Safety was expected to be dominated by the need to strengthen global nuclear safety after Japan's emergency.
Asked whether lessons had been learnt from a 2007 earthquake that hit Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant and whether Fukushima could have been avoided, Amano said the latest tremor was much bigger and was also followed by a huge tsunami.
Both plants were operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), Asia's largest utility whose share price has crashed in recent weeks.
"Thinking retrospectively, the measures taken by the operators as safety measures were not sufficient to prevent this accident," Amano, a Japanese national, told a news conference.
He did not mention TEPCO, which has been criticised in Japan for its preparedness and response to the disaster, by name.
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