ID :
181999
Fri, 05/13/2011 - 16:30
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/181999
The shortlink copeid
U.S. urges Japan to ratify pact on compensation for nuclear damage
TOKYO (Kyodo) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman urged Japan on Thursday to conclude and ratify at an early date the 1997 international pact on mutual assistance among member states in the event of a nuclear accident.
In a telephone interview with Kyodo News, Poneman said the international pact, called the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, is intended to offer support to any business corporations in the world in the event of a nuclear accident.
''Certainly, what we can do cooperatively with respect to used fuel management, something that is of keen interest to both of our sides, obviously that's relevant to what President (Barack) Obama called for in Prague when he talked about international nuclear fuel cycle cooperation.''
''The other thing that I think is very important, frankly, is for Japan to ratify the supplementary funding convention so that all companies anywhere in the world can help each other in nuclear safety cooperation and be appropriately protected by a common set of liability protections that can benefit the whole world and benefit nuclear safety as well,'' said Poneman who spoke at the Department of Energy in Washington.
Poneman's remark shows that the Obama administration regards it urgent to establish an international framework of cooperation in the event of a serious nuclear accident at an early date in the aftermath of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, is expected to pay trillions of yen in damages to farmers, fishermen, evacuees and a wide range of people over the crisis.
The international pact, which was adopted in September 1997 at a Vienna meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has yet to come into force as the number of parties to it has remained small.
The United States ratified it in 2008. Argentina and Morocco are among the other ratifying countries. In Asia, Japan, South Korea and China, which operate nuclear power reactors, have yet to ratify the pact.
Poneman said the United States expects this year's annual summit of the Group of Eight major advanced countries will urge all the countries in the world to fully pay care to ensure the safety of nuclear power.
''So, my hunch is that the G-8 -- what I would expect and what I would -- is that they would continue to encourage all countries to be vigilant in the area of nuclear safety and security, and to continue to work through those existing fora, such as the IAEA, to determine what lessons we need to learn from the Fukushima experience, and if that teaching leads us to change guidelines or standards, then that would be appropriate.''
''Certainly, again, if we needed further proof, we've got it now, that an accident anywhere in the world is tantamount to an accident everywhere in the world, and so I think the premium that would be placed by the G-8, by the IAEA and by everybody on getting the most effective, safety-based, standards for the continued operation and regulation of nuclear reactors,'' he said.
''That's really in all of our interests, and I would very, very much hope that the G-8 would contribute to that kind of dialogue and to the leadership, so that the members then go to the following meeting of the IAEA and have a very clear sense from their leaders on what direction to go.''
Leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are scheduled to meet in Deauville, France in late May.
Asked about the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, the deputy secretary of energy said the work to settle the situation would no doubt take a long time.
''I think that we still have a lot of work to do to get the situation where it needs to be. Obviously, this effort is going to extend for a long time to come and, in its different phases, the more acute phase, obviously earlier, and then in the long run, we're going to have to figure out what to do, or Japan is going to have to figure out what to do, with those units.''
Poneman indicated the United States could not gain correct information from Japan on the Fukushima crisis at its early stage and could not fully grasp the situation.
''You know, what you saw at the very beginning was when, A, there was lack of clarity about the information 'on the ground,' what was actually happening and, B, everybody was just scrambling to make sure that, just as, like, when your house is on fire you just throw somebody a hose. You don't have a long discussion about whether they already have a hose. You just get what you can to fight the problem.''
''Well, the first thing, the very, very first days, we were really tightly focused on cooling water, getting cooling water into the cores of the reactors, getting cooling water into the spent fuel, the used fuel ponds, especially Unit Four, as you know,'' he said.
In a telephone interview with Kyodo News, Poneman said the international pact, called the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, is intended to offer support to any business corporations in the world in the event of a nuclear accident.
''Certainly, what we can do cooperatively with respect to used fuel management, something that is of keen interest to both of our sides, obviously that's relevant to what President (Barack) Obama called for in Prague when he talked about international nuclear fuel cycle cooperation.''
''The other thing that I think is very important, frankly, is for Japan to ratify the supplementary funding convention so that all companies anywhere in the world can help each other in nuclear safety cooperation and be appropriately protected by a common set of liability protections that can benefit the whole world and benefit nuclear safety as well,'' said Poneman who spoke at the Department of Energy in Washington.
Poneman's remark shows that the Obama administration regards it urgent to establish an international framework of cooperation in the event of a serious nuclear accident at an early date in the aftermath of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, is expected to pay trillions of yen in damages to farmers, fishermen, evacuees and a wide range of people over the crisis.
The international pact, which was adopted in September 1997 at a Vienna meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has yet to come into force as the number of parties to it has remained small.
The United States ratified it in 2008. Argentina and Morocco are among the other ratifying countries. In Asia, Japan, South Korea and China, which operate nuclear power reactors, have yet to ratify the pact.
Poneman said the United States expects this year's annual summit of the Group of Eight major advanced countries will urge all the countries in the world to fully pay care to ensure the safety of nuclear power.
''So, my hunch is that the G-8 -- what I would expect and what I would -- is that they would continue to encourage all countries to be vigilant in the area of nuclear safety and security, and to continue to work through those existing fora, such as the IAEA, to determine what lessons we need to learn from the Fukushima experience, and if that teaching leads us to change guidelines or standards, then that would be appropriate.''
''Certainly, again, if we needed further proof, we've got it now, that an accident anywhere in the world is tantamount to an accident everywhere in the world, and so I think the premium that would be placed by the G-8, by the IAEA and by everybody on getting the most effective, safety-based, standards for the continued operation and regulation of nuclear reactors,'' he said.
''That's really in all of our interests, and I would very, very much hope that the G-8 would contribute to that kind of dialogue and to the leadership, so that the members then go to the following meeting of the IAEA and have a very clear sense from their leaders on what direction to go.''
Leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States are scheduled to meet in Deauville, France in late May.
Asked about the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Japan, the deputy secretary of energy said the work to settle the situation would no doubt take a long time.
''I think that we still have a lot of work to do to get the situation where it needs to be. Obviously, this effort is going to extend for a long time to come and, in its different phases, the more acute phase, obviously earlier, and then in the long run, we're going to have to figure out what to do, or Japan is going to have to figure out what to do, with those units.''
Poneman indicated the United States could not gain correct information from Japan on the Fukushima crisis at its early stage and could not fully grasp the situation.
''You know, what you saw at the very beginning was when, A, there was lack of clarity about the information 'on the ground,' what was actually happening and, B, everybody was just scrambling to make sure that, just as, like, when your house is on fire you just throw somebody a hose. You don't have a long discussion about whether they already have a hose. You just get what you can to fight the problem.''
''Well, the first thing, the very, very first days, we were really tightly focused on cooling water, getting cooling water into the cores of the reactors, getting cooling water into the spent fuel, the used fuel ponds, especially Unit Four, as you know,'' he said.
