JAPAN: United Nations nuclear experts give the green light to stress tests aimed at showing that Japan's nuclear power plants can withstand the sort of disasters that devastated the Fukushima plant last year

Record ID: 466193

  • Title: JAPAN: United Nations nuclear experts give the green light to stress tests aimed at showing that Japan's nuclear power plants can withstand the sort of disasters that devastated the Fukushima plant last year
  • Date: 1st February 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY DIVISION AT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) AND HEAD OF JAPAN REVIEW TEAM, JAMES LYONS, MODERATOR AND TRANSLATOR SITTING AT TABLE OF NEWS CONFERENCE OFFICIAL IAEA (INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENGERY AGENCY) FLAG VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY DIVISION AT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) AND HEAD OF JAPAN REVIEW TEAM, JAMES LYONS, SAYING: "When we come here on a mission, what our fundamental desire is, is to make sure that if the power plants in Japan here are operating, that they're operated in a safe manner." VARIOUS OF MEDIA TAKING NOTES AND LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY DIVISION AT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) AND HEAD OF JAPAN REVIEW TEAM, JAMES LYONS, SAYING: "We were able to give them some additional areas where they could improve their process, including using newer internationally accepted safety standards." MORE OF LYONS, MODERATOR AND TRANSLATOR SITTING AT TABLE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR OF NUCLEAR SAFETY AND SECURITY DIVISION AT INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) AND HEAD OF JAPAN REVIEW TEAM, JAMES LYONS, SAYING: "They have, in their discussions with us, have indicated to us, that they want to use those new standards so we were confident that they would do a good job in their secondary assessment." VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES AND LISTENING LYONS GETTING UP AND LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 16th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: International Relations,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVABI8P50TNLDO0ITZDFCQF8SBYI
  • Story Text: U.N. nuclear experts on Tuesday (January 31) gave their backing to stress tests aimed at showing that Japan's nuclear plants can withstand the sort of disasters that devastated the Fukushima plant last year, potentially bolstering a government campaign to restart idled reactors and avoid a summer power crunch.
    Stress tests are computer simulations that evaluate a nuclear reactor's resilience to severe events, such as earthquakes and tsunamis.
    But the government still faces an uphill battle to restore tattered public trust in the nation's power utilities after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
    The Vienna-based International Atomic Agency's (IAEA) team was in Japan at the request of the government to review the stress tests conducted by its watchdog Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA).
    "When we come here on a mission, what our fundamental desire is, is to make sure that if the power plants in Japan here are operating, that they're operated in a safe manner," James Lyons, the leader of the 10-member IAEA team, said.
    "We were able to give them some additional areas where they could improve their process, including using newer internationally accepted safety standards," Lyons added.
    NISA completed a review of the stress tests earlier in January and said they showed reactors at Fukui prefecture's Ohi plant, the first ones it assessed, were capable of withstanding a severe shock similar to the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima plant.
    "They have in their discussions with us, have indicated to us, that they want to use those new standards so we were confident that they would do a good job in their secondary assessment," Lyons said.
    Some experts, however, have questioned the validity of the stress tests, and that the IAEA's visit was just for show.
    Critics said the stress tests were insufficient as they only simulate one natural disaster at a time and do not take into account the possibility of the sort of equipment failure and human error seen at Fukushima.
    The Fukushima disaster itself has prompted a major shift in Japan's energy policy.
    The resource-poor nation had aimed to increase the share of nuclear power to more than half of the electricity supply by 2030 before the disaster.
    The country now looks to reduce its reliance on nuclear power and raise the role of renewable sources such as wind and solar power.
    Japan had promoted nuclear power as safe, cheap and clean before the Fukushima crisis, but the accident destroyed that "safety myth".
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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