IAEA becomes minor player in nuclear crisis

BY TORU TAMAKAWA CORRESPONDENT

2011/04/06

IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

VIENNA--Exasperated by inquiries and lacking authority, the International Atomic Energy Agency has taken a back seat in dealing with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Although the IAEA has kept a sharp eye on nations developing nuclear weapons, it does not have the authority to become actively involved in accidents at nuclear plants.

But that has not stopped people from seeking the advice of the IAEA concerning the situation in Fukushima Prefecture, nor confusion among residents and Japanese government officials.

On March 30, the IAEA announced that a single soil sample taken from Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, about 40 kilometers from the stricken nuclear plant, had radiation levels double the IAEA standard for evacuation.

The announcement caused concerns among Iitate residents who were outside the Japanese government's evacuation order region.

Officials of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency were also perplexed by the IAEA's announcement. One NISA official said, "We do not know what the IAEA's computation standards are."

Asked by reporters Friday on whether Iitate residents should leave, a clearly rankled Denis Flory, a deputy director-general who heads the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, said only the Japanese government could decide whether Iitate residents had to evacuate.

IAEA officials said the announcement was only based on a temporary computation and called on Japan to conduct further studies.

"The data on which we based our announcement was accumulated by Japan and is not the result of measurements taken independently by the IAEA," an IAEA source said.

On April 1, IAEA officials announced that based on a recomputation done on additional data provided by Japan from 15 soil samples in Iitate, the average figure was below the evacuation standard set by the IAEA.

Even if the results of the IAEA's initial tests for Iitate stood, the agency does not have the authority to issue binding recommendations and instructions to nations about nuclear accidents.

Although the IAEA can conduct inspections to prevent the transfer of nuclear energy technology for military purposes, it can provide information or dispatch specialists to a nation affected by a nuclear accident only if the nation gives its approval.

"A major precondition for the safety of nuclear plants is that each nation should bear responsibility over their plants," Yukiya Amano, IAEA director-general, said in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun. "The IAEA is not 'the guardian of the safety of nuclear power plants.'"

Amid such developments in Japan, a review meeting of contracting parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) convened Monday in Vienna.

The Japanese government and the IAEA co-hosted a seminar to explain what was happening at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

In a speech at the review meeting, Amano said: "The situation at Fukushima ... remains very serious. The immediate priority is to overcome the crisis and stabilize the reactors. But we must also begin the process of reflection and evaluation."

The CNS was created after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union in 1986 and went into force in 1996.

The convention created a legal framework for the operating and management of nuclear power plants and asked contracting nations to attain international safety standards. The convention calls on nations to close nuclear plants immediately if they are unable to reach those standards.

However, only 72 nations have ratified the CNS, less than half of the 150 nations that are IAEA members.

No penalties are imposed against nations that fail to attain the international standards. Nor is there a system in place for safety inspections to appraise whether the CNS is being followed.

Contracting nations only have to report on current conditions of their nuclear power plants at the review meetings held once every three years.

But the situation in Fukushima Prefecture has prompted major nations to review the safety standards for nuclear power plants.

On a visit to Tokyo last Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated that efforts would be made to establish international safety standards for nuclear power plants by the end of the year after discussions are held at the Group of Eight summit scheduled for May as well as at Group of 20 sessions.

The IAEA has also decided to hold a ministerial-level meeting in Vienna on June 20-24 to discuss international safety measures for nuclear power plants. Among the topics likely to be discussed are anti-quake standards for nuclear plants as well as stricter rules to guard against tsunami.

But any decision made at the IAEA meeting will likely only provide guidelines with no binding power over signatory nations.

Newly emerging economies planning to construct nuclear power plants are expected to oppose changes in safety standards because such a move could increase costs.

A diplomatic source said, "It will be difficult to agree to an early strengthening of standards because of haggling among various nations."