VIENNA / JAPAN NUCLEAR UPDATE
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STORY: VIENNA / JAPAN NUCLEAR UPDATE
TRT: 2.00
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 28 MARCH 2011, VIENNA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, VIENNA, AUSTRIA/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Wide shot, IAEA Headquarters
28 MARCH 2011, VIENNA INTERNATIONAL CENTRE, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
2. Med shot, journalists
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General:
“The accident continues to be a serious situation and it is not yet over. The meeting is scheduled late June, from the 20th to the 24th of June; therefore what we can expect is a preliminary assessment of the accident and a preliminary review of the safety standards in light of this accident. It is not to open everything, but in light of this accident and a preliminary review of the response, again to this accident. It is not just backward looking, but it should be a forward looking meeting.”
4. Med shot, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yukiya Amano, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General:
“My understanding is that the situation continues to be very serious and the efforts to overcome this crisis is increasing. At the same time they encountered difficulties, like the existence of water or high level of radiation. There have been also some progress too. I really hope that the efforts by the emergency workers will lead to the stabilization of the reactors and this accident and crisis situation.”
6. Med shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Denis Flory, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of Department of Nuclear Safety and Security:
“Pumping the water from the condensed water storage tank into the surge tank was started out at unit 3 on March 28. Near unit 3 buildings, three workers spilled water over themselves while removing a phalange from sea water pipes under residual heat removing system. After showering, contamination was no longer detected.”
8. Close up, photographer
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General, Yukiya Amano, and IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Denis Flory, briefed the media today (30 March) in Vienna, on the IAEA Nuclear Safety Conference slated for June and on the latest developments at the nuclear facilities in Japan.
The agency’s chief said the high-level conference that the United Nations global nuclear safety watchdog was hosting in June would address the political impact of the Japanese power plant crisis, and not just its technical aspects.
Amano announced that he had sent invitations today to the prime ministers and foreign ministers of all 151 IAEA Member States.
He said that the situation at the earthquake -and tsunami- stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant that has been spewing radioactive contamination into the environment since 11 March was still serious "and it is not yet over”. He noted that a “preliminary assessment of the accident and a preliminary review of the safety standards in light of this accident” can be expected as an outcome of the meeting.
The Director-General added that the meeting would not be “just backward looking, but it should be a forward looking meeting.”
The conference would be held from 20 to 24 June in Vienna at ministerial level. Starting on Monday (4 April), the Japanese crisis would also be discussed at a Vienna meeting of Member States of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS), a legally binding international instrument borne out of the Chernobyl nuclear accident 25 years ago, for which IAEA provides the secretariat.
The CNS, which had more than 60 contracting parties, aimed to promote nuclear safety, safety culture, safety management and knowledge sharing among current and future nuclear power States. A seminar would be held on the sidelines of that meeting to provide a forum for the wider IAEA membership.
About the response to the nuclear accident, Amano said that efforts to overcome that crisis were increasing, but “at the same time they encountered difficulties, like the existence of water or high level of radiation”. He expressed hope that “the efforts by the emergency workers would lead to the stabilization of the reactors and this accident and crisis situation.”
Flory offered a daily update of the situation at the plants and informed that during the process of pumping water at unit 3, "three workers spilled water over themselves while removing a phalange from sea water pipes under residual heat removing system.” He added that “after showering, contamination was no longer detected.”
More than 11,000 people were confirmed to have died and at least 16,000 others were missing as a result of the quake and tsunami, which struck the northeast coast of Japan’s biggest island, Honshu.