Japan, IAEA agree to boost info sharing on Fukushima nuke crisis

TOKYO, April 21 Kyodo -
Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency have agreed to boost their information sharing on the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, State Foreign Secretary Chiaki Takahashi said Thursday.
Takahashi, who reported on the latest developments of the Fukushima crisis at an international conference in Kiev on Tuesday, a week before the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, said he met with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano on the sidelines of the event and agreed with him to enhance communications on the prolonged crisis.
''At the Kiev conference, we distributed English materials to update the international community on the Fukushima emergency and received favorable responses,'' Takahashi said at a press conference. ''Mr. Amano and I then agreed to work toward uploading those materials on the IAEA website.''
At the Summit on Safe and Innovative Use of Nuclear Energy in the Ukrainian capital, Takahashi called for a ''calm response'' to the Fukushima contingency triggered by the devastating March 11 quake and tsunami, based on objective information.
He said many participants at the summit pointed to the need to review measures to ensure the safety of existing nuclear plants and referred to the importance of promoting nuclear power generation despite the Fukushima disaster.
The conference brought together representatives from more than 50 countries and international organizations. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was among the participants.