High Level Conference Called to Strengthen Nuclear Safety and Emergency Response

On 28 March 2011at a special briefing on the Fukshima nuclear accident held for IAEA Member States, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano announced a high-level IAEA conference on Nuclear Safety should take place in Vienna before the summer.

Noting that the Fukushima crisis has confronted the Agency and the international community with a major challenge, Director General Amano said that it was “vitally important that we learn the right lessons from what happened on March 11, and afterwards, in order to strengthen nuclear safety throughout the world”. He recalled that following the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in the previous week, “many countries joined my call for robust follow-up action”.

Director General Amano proposed that high-level IAEA conference on Nuclear Safety should cover the following points:

• � an initial assessment of the Fukushima accident, its impact and consequences;
• � considering the lessons that need to be learned;
• � launching the process of strengthening nuclear safety;
• � and strengthening the response to nuclear accidents and emergencies.

Since the IAEA offers the “necessary expertise, extensive membership and can ensure transparency”, Director General Amano noted that the IAEA is the best venue for follow-up on the Fukushima accident.