Monday, September 26, 2011
IAEA urges states to provide extra funding for post-Fukushima nuclear safety
The UN atomic agency urged states to provide extra funding to strengthen global nuclear safety in the wake of Japan's Fukushima accident - a request some may balk at amid growing economic worries.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, also announced the UN body would send a team of experts to Japan next month to help sanitise areas contaminated as a result of the nuclear accident.
"For the engineers, what is going on in the reactor is the main issue of interest. For the local people, the most important is what happens with their house or rice field, so we need to decontaminate," Amano told reporters.
Japan does not have much experience in this area, he said, adding that some people were spraying water and digging up the earth in an attempt to clean up their homes.
"These things should be done properly, otherwise the amount of debris becomes huge. I hope we can give some advice."
The Vienna-based UN agency was setting up an "action team" to oversee prompt implementation of newly-agreed measures designed to enhance nuclear safety standards
around the world after Fukushima, Amano said.
The IAEA's annual gathering of its 151 member countries last week endorsed an IAEA plan to help ensure there is no repeat of the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century.
"The IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety ... requires immediate follow-up," Amano told a one-day session of the agency's 35-nation board on Monday.
The plan, criticised by some nations for not going far enough towards more mandatory measures, outlines a series of voluntary steps aimed at improving reactor safety and emergency preparedness.
Amano made clear the agency needed more money to turn the plan into reality, but did not give details.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, also announced the UN body would send a team of experts to Japan next month to help sanitise areas contaminated as a result of the nuclear accident.
"For the engineers, what is going on in the reactor is the main issue of interest. For the local people, the most important is what happens with their house or rice field, so we need to decontaminate," Amano told reporters.
Japan does not have much experience in this area, he said, adding that some people were spraying water and digging up the earth in an attempt to clean up their homes.
"These things should be done properly, otherwise the amount of debris becomes huge. I hope we can give some advice."
The Vienna-based UN agency was setting up an "action team" to oversee prompt implementation of newly-agreed measures designed to enhance nuclear safety standards
around the world after Fukushima, Amano said.
The IAEA's annual gathering of its 151 member countries last week endorsed an IAEA plan to help ensure there is no repeat of the world's worst nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century.
"The IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety ... requires immediate follow-up," Amano told a one-day session of the agency's 35-nation board on Monday.
The plan, criticised by some nations for not going far enough towards more mandatory measures, outlines a series of voluntary steps aimed at improving reactor safety and emergency preparedness.
Amano made clear the agency needed more money to turn the plan into reality, but did not give details.
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