Watchdog says not 'business as usual'
Source: Agencies |
April 5, 2011, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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THE Japanese reactor crisis poses a major challenge with enormous implications for nuclear power, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog said yesterday.
Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also stressed that the global community cannot take a "business as usual approach."
Lessons must to be learned from what happened at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant after it was hit by a massive tsunami and earthquake on March 11 and has been releasing radiation into the environment ever since, he said.
Amano spoke at the opening session of a meeting that has drawn representatives from dozens of countries to scrutinize safety at each other's power plants.
"I know you will agree with me that the crisis at Fukushima Dai-ichi has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge," Amano told delegates. "We cannot take a business as usual approach."
The worries of millions of people around the world about the safety of nuclear energy "must be taken seriously," Amano said, and called for transparency and "rigorous adherence to the most robust international safety standards."
Amano's comments were seconded by Li Ganjie of China's National Nuclear Safety Administration, who is presiding over the meeting.
"Nuclear safety is the lifeline and key to nuclear power and nuclear safety knows no boundaries," Li said.
Speaking to reporters later, Amano appeared to criticize Fukushima's utility, the Tokyo Electric Power Co, for not learning lessons from 2007 earthquake-related incidents at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power plant that led to at least eight deaths. The incidents there included fires and leaks of radioactive water.
Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also stressed that the global community cannot take a "business as usual approach."
Lessons must to be learned from what happened at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant after it was hit by a massive tsunami and earthquake on March 11 and has been releasing radiation into the environment ever since, he said.
Amano spoke at the opening session of a meeting that has drawn representatives from dozens of countries to scrutinize safety at each other's power plants.
"I know you will agree with me that the crisis at Fukushima Dai-ichi has enormous implications for nuclear power and confronts all of us with a major challenge," Amano told delegates. "We cannot take a business as usual approach."
The worries of millions of people around the world about the safety of nuclear energy "must be taken seriously," Amano said, and called for transparency and "rigorous adherence to the most robust international safety standards."
Amano's comments were seconded by Li Ganjie of China's National Nuclear Safety Administration, who is presiding over the meeting.
"Nuclear safety is the lifeline and key to nuclear power and nuclear safety knows no boundaries," Li said.
Speaking to reporters later, Amano appeared to criticize Fukushima's utility, the Tokyo Electric Power Co, for not learning lessons from 2007 earthquake-related incidents at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power plant that led to at least eight deaths. The incidents there included fires and leaks of radioactive water.
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