KORIYAMA, JAPAN (15 DECEMBER 2012) – Strengthening nuclear safety is a continuous process with no room for complacency, the Co-Presidents of the Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety said today.
KoichiroGemba, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Fadillah Bin HjYusof, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, released the Co-Presidents’ Statement at the end of the Conference’s Ministerial Plenary, on day one of the three-day event.
“It was stressed that nuclear safety is a prerequisite for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, that strengthening nuclear safety is a continuous process and that there should be no complacency in safety matters,” the statement said.
The conference was organised by the government of Japan and supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Malaysia was invited to co-chair the Conference because of her respectable and neutral position within the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The statement recognized the progress reported by Japan in response to the Fukushima Daiichi accident, including the present stable status of the nuclear power station and the significant decrease in radioactive release at the accident site.
It stressed the importance of continued transparency in sharing objective information on the progress of decommissioning the plant, remediation and waste management, and encouraged Japan to lead an international effort to obtain data from the damaged reactors.
It also emphasised the importance of measures to prevent and mitigate severe accidents, including protection against extreme natural hazards, saying that “nuclear power plants should be designed, constructed and operated with the objectives of preventing accidents, and, should an accident occur, mitigating its effects and especially avoiding off-site contamination.”The statement said emergency preparedness and response plans and capabilities should be strengthened at all levels, and emphasised the importance of international cooperation in assessing the environmental and human impact of radioactive releases from a nuclear accident.