Global Security Newswire

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 151 member nations on Thursday approved by consensus a package of atomic accident-prevention reforms developed since the outset of the crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Vienna, Austria-based organization announced (see GSN, Sept. 19).

The proposed policy updates, which won approval last week from the U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation governing board, required final endorsement by the IAEA General Conference before they could take effect. The United States and other powers successfully pushed for the removal of legal mandates from the proposal, and the plan does not identify specific time lines for accomplishing its goals, according to previous reports.

The Fukushima facility was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left Japan with more than 20,000 people missing or dead. Radiation releases on a level not seen since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster forced the evacuation of about 80,000 residents from a 12-mile ring exclusion zone surrounding the site (see GSN, Sept. 22).

"This action plan -- the product of intensive consultations with member states -- is both a rallying point and a blueprint for strengthening nuclear safety worldwide," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a statement. "It contains concrete and achievable actions to make nuclear safety post-Fukushima more robust and effective than before."

"At its core is greater transparency. If there is more transparency, there is more incentive to implement all the actions in the plan, and to be seen to do so," Amano said.

"We count on member states to implement the action plan fully and vigorously. It will need their sustained commitment and full involvement.

"I am confident that the U.N. High-Level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security, which is taking place in New York today, will continue to build on the foundations laid here in Vienna. We must not lose our sense of urgency. Public expectations are very high," he said (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Sept. 22).

Speaking at the New York gathering on Thursday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the Fukushima crisis as a global “wake-up call” and pressed for decisive steps to improve protections at atomic facilities.

“The effects of nuclear accidents respect no borders. To adequately safeguard our people, we must have strong international consensus and action. We must have strong international safety standards,” Ban told delegates to the event (United Nations release I, Sept. 22).

"We need to build a stronger connection between nuclear safety and nuclear security," he added in released remarks. "Though these challenges are distinct in some aspects, boosting one can bolster the other. Of course, this will require the active cooperation of the nuclear industry. I hope that these matters will be taken up at the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit" (see GSN, Sept. 14; United Nations release II, Sept. 22).

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reaffirmed his country's intention to place all reactors at the Fukushima facility in "cold shutdown" before 2012, beating a January deadline for stabilization set previously by the government and the site's operator, Kyodo News reported.

Japan and other nations will bolster efforts to protect atomic assets from extremists, Noda said (Kyodo News/Mainichi Daily News, Sept. 23).