1. The
Reconstruction Process Enters Full Swing
2.
PM Noda and FM Gemba Attend the 66th Session of the
UN General Assembly
- PM Noda’s address to the General Assembly
- Third Ministerial Meeting of the
Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI)
- G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting (ministerial
follow-up meeting on the Deauville Partnership)
- Ministerial-level side event on the MDGs
3. IAEA General Conference
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JICC
Newsletter
No.5, October 2011 |
3. IAEA
General Conference
Expressing Japan’s Position on the
Accident at the Nuclear Power Plant
The 55th regular session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
General Conference was held in Vienna from September 19 to 23, with
H.E. Mr. Goshi Hosono, Minister of State for Special Missions,
Cabinet Office and Head of the Delegation of Japan, in attendance.
Minister Hosono exchanged views with other Heads and officials
concerned, expressing gratitude for the support received following
the Great East Japan Earthquake, and explained Japan’s efforts and
future outlook with regard to the Accident at the Nuclear Power
Plant and how the IAEA and other countries should work together
going forward. Minister Hosono also gave opening remarks at the
briefing session on the Accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi
Nuclear Power Plant held by Japan at the fringe of the IAEA General
Conference, during which he stated that Japan had submitted an
additional report on the Accident to the IAEA, that the situation is
gradually working towards restoration, and that decontamination and
other off-site responses, as well as efforts to manage the health of
residents, are some of the highest priorities of the Government of
Japan.
Speech Delivered by Minister Hosono
In his address on the first day of the General Conference, Minister
Hosono touched upon the Accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi
Nuclear Power Plant and (a) expressed appreciation to the IAEA and
its Member States for their support after the Accident, and extended
high appreciation to the leadership demonstrated by the IAEA
Director General Mr. Yukiya Amano as he leads international efforts
for putting into practice lessons learned from the Accident for
enhanced nuclear safety and strengthened nuclear security.
Furthermore, he stated that (b) it is the commitments of Japan to
achieving the earliest possible settlement of the Accident,
investigating its cause, sharing with the international community
lessons learned from such endeavours and reflecting these lessons
upon the IAEA’s efforts for further strengthening nuclear safety,
and that Japan will make every effort to implement the Action Plan
on Nuclear Safety, (c) Japan will bring forward the existing target
period and endeavour to achieve a cold shutdown by the end of the
year, (d) the Government will aim to create the “Nuclear Safety and
Security Agency” in April next year as an external body of the
Ministry of the Environment to unify nuclear regulation authorities,
boost safety culture, and put in place an enhanced crisis management
system, while striving to fundamentally strengthen the nuclear
safety regulations themselves, and (e) Japan was planning to receive
an IAEA decontamination mission in October of this year, and will
co-host a high-level meeting together with the IAEA in 2012 in which
the Government would like to share with the international community
the results of the comprehensive review of Japan’s nuclear power
plants and the direction of nuclear safety measures. With regard to
regional nuclear issues and the peaceful use of nuclear power,
Minister Hosono also explained Japan’s position and relevant efforts
regarding the nuclear issues in North Korea, Iran, and Syria,
nuclear disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear power, as well
as expressing Japan’s intent to continue to work in cooperation with
the IAEA and other countries.
Finalization of the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear
Safety
At the IAEA General Conference, the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear
Safety was finalized to strengthen nuclear safety internationally in
the aftermath of the Accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear
Power Plant. The Director General of the IAEA created a draft of the
Action Plan, which was approved by consensus at the IAEA Board of
Governors’ Meeting on September 13, with the finalized Action Plan
consisting of a preamble and 12 actions (including (a) a safety
assessment from the standpoint of the Accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima
Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant and (b) an IAEA peer review and other
measures to expand the IAEA safety assessment mission suggested by
Japan). It also referred to the international conference on nuclear
safety to be held jointly by Japan and the IAEA in 2012. |