Statement by Mr. Shunichi YAMAGUCHI, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy, Head of Delegation of Japan at the 58th General Conference

Mr. President,
Mr. Director General,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 

At the outset, let me congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election as President of the 58th General Conference of the IAEA.
The Government of Japan also welcomes the Union of the Comoros, the Republic of Djibouti, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Vanuatu as new members of the IAEA. We highly appreciate the work of the Agency to further promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy and ensure non-proliferation through strengthening the IAEA safeguards system. We commend DG Amano for his leadership and the Secretariat for the tireless efforts to fulfill its mandate and we will continue to support their efforts as much as we can.
 

In April this year, the Government of Japan adopted the 4th Strategic Energy Plan to provide direction to Japan’s mid-to long-term energy policy. Nuclear power was identified in this policy as an important base-load power source. In line with this policy, the Government of Japan will carefully examine the volume of electricity to be secured by nuclear power generation. To this end, we will take into consideration Japan’s energy constraints from the viewpoint of energy supply stability, cost reduction, global warming and maintenance of nuclear technologies and human resources.

Japanese nuclear power plants, all of which are currently shut down, will be restarted once their compliance with the new regulations is confirmed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). The NRA completed the safety conformity review for Sendai Nuclear Power Station this month and the government is now progressing with the next steps which will lead to its restarting, in line with the 4th Strategic Energy Plan. The government will make efforts to obtain the understanding and cooperation of relevant parties including the municipalities hosting the nuclear facility site. We firmly maintain the principle of not possessing reserves of plutonium without specified purposes. We also continue to appropriately manage and utilize plutonium, taking into account the balance of supply and demand. In this regard, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, which has been playing an important role in a broad area of nuclear activities in Japan, was reformed this year. By this reform, the Commission will be able to focus more on ensuring the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Japan and to help the Government coordinate better for this purpose.
 

Japan will continue to provide nuclear technology with enhanced safety based on lessons learned from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company, and strengthen support for human resources and institutional development for countries which continue to embark on their nuclear power programs.
 

Managing the aftermath of Fukushima Daiichi accident remains an important task for us.

In September last year, the Government of Japan has developed a basic policy for the fundamental resolution of the issue, and has been taking measures based on that policy in a step-by-step manner. Thanks to the approximately 780 proposals which we received from inside and outside of Japan and by reflecting on those proposals, the Government of Japan formulated multilayered preventive plans to manage the contaminated water issue. Measures such as “Groundwater bypassing” have been implemented as soon as they became feasible. Concrete steps have been taken since last September when we announced the basic policy. The entire Government is determined to continue working in an integrated manner to solve the contaminated water issue. We hope that we will be able to report to you on further progress next year.
 

There is also progress in the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as well as the remediation work in the surrounding areas. For decommissioning, the work is now ongoing to remove fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool of Unit 4. More than 80% of these assemblies have been removed already. The work is expected to be done by the end of this year.

As a result of the progress made in the work for remediation, evacuation orders were lifted in some affected areas in April this year for the first time since the accident. We believe it is essential to enhance communication with the public, especially to enhance the risk communication with returnees, so that they will have sufficient understanding of the risks associated with radiation. We have been taking various initiatives to this end.

Dissemination of information to the international community remains as crucial as its dissemination within Japan. We are striving to provide as much information as possible to the international community and to maintain transparency. For this purpose, we have been publishing marine monitoring results on a daily basis and in addition to this we have been making the results of monitoring of foods, including fishery products, available once a week. Together with the updates regarding the decommissioning process and the countermeasures for　contaminated water, comprehensive information is reported to the IAEA on a regular basis and made public through IAEA’s website.

Furthermore, food safety is assured by strengthened administrative systems. In fact, import restrictions on food, in particular on fishery products, have been eased in some countries and regions, including in Australia and the EU. In addition, a report on the safety of fishery products covering all developments on this issue after the accident was issued and made available to the international community this May.
 

The work to deal with the aftermath of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is unprecedented in its difficulties and requires enormous efforts through mobilizing technologies, expertise and experiences from both Japan and abroad.

Last year, we received IAEA decommissioning missions and a remediation mission. We appreciate the useful advice these missions provided. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the IAEA and other organizations, as well as to the countries which have given their support and advice to our country, for their work. We are planning to receive another IAEA decommissioning mission, and will continue to work together with the IAEA and the international community.

Furthermore, in April next year we plan to establish an international collaborative research center on decommissioning in addition to related facilities such as Mock-up Testing Facility and Radioactive Analysis Facility in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, bringing together expertise and knowledge from academia, industry and governments, with a view towards promoting R&D activities of advanced technologies on decommissioning as well as developing human resources in this area. This center will be a base for information sharing on R&D outcomes from all over the world. It should also contribute to the dissemination of this information to the world.
 

It is our country’s responsibility to contribute to the improvement of nuclear safety in the world by sharing with the international community the experience and lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

The Government of Japan attaches great importance to the steady implementation of the IAEA Nuclear Safety Action Plan adopted in September 2011. As part of such implementation, we are sharing our expertise through dispatching experts to International Experts’ Meetings and have decided to receive an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) of the IAEA towards the end of 2015. Also, regarding the improvement of the effectiveness of the international legal framework, one of the twelve main actions of the Action Plan, we expressed our intention to conclude the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). We strongly believe that this action would contribute to the establishment of a global framework on nuclear liability and to the management of the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
Last but not least, Japan will continue to actively cooperate with the IAEA to formulate the IAEA Fukushima report.
 

Japan continuously contributes to improving nuclear security domestically and internationally.

Japan deposited the instrument of acceptance of the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material on June 27 this year. In addition, Japan will receive the IAEA International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission in February next year.　

Last year, the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security (ISCN) in Tokai, Japan, provided seminars on peaceful uses of nuclear energy and training courses on nuclear security to approximately 350 experts from Asian and other countries. Total number of such trainees since its inception in 2010 reached 1200. To enhance coordination with the IAEA for such training activities, the ISCN concluded a Practical Arrangement with the IAEA in September 2013. The ISCN also continues to be engaged in R&D activities in fields such as nuclear forensics. Japan will make further efforts to enhance global nuclear security through our collaboration with the IAEA and other countries.
 

Japan has supported and continues to support the strengthening of the effectiveness and efficiency of the IAEA safeguards system. In this regard, Japan welcomes the fact that two comprehensive safeguards agreements and four additional protocols entered into force in 2013.
 

Japan strongly condemns North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear and missile programs as these pose a serious threat to peace and security not only for East Asia but also for the entire international community.

Recently, North Korea once again launched ballistic missiles, in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. Provocations by North Korea, including nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, represent a grave challenge to the international non-proliferation regime centered on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and are totally unacceptable. Japan urges North Korea to refrain from any further provocative actions, to take concrete steps toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization and immediately cease all related activities, to fully comply with the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, and to return to compliance with the NPT and IAEA safeguards.

Japan, in this regard, fully supports the IAEA’s continued involvement in this issue.
 

With regard to the Iranian nuclear issue, Japan fully supports the efforts by the EU3 plus 3 in pursuit of a final and comprehensive resolution of the issue. Also in this context, Japan fully supports the IAEA’s role in this issue especially in verification and monitoring activities for the purpose of ensuring the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program as well as its efforts to resolve all outstanding issues, including possible military dimensions. In order to support IAEA’s efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, Japan made extra-budgetary contribution of 420,000 euros to the IAEA.
 

The Government of Japan attaches great importance to the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, one of the pillars of the NPT, and makes contributions to activities in this area. Japan believes that the benefits of peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology should be enjoyed by all IAEA member states, especially by developing countries, and continues to support the IAEA activities for power- applications of nuclear energy in fields such as the development of infrastructure and the enhancement of public understanding, as well as for non-power applications in areas such as health, food, agriculture, water management and the environment.

The IAEA ReNuAL project is beneficial for all Member States. Japan would like to call upon all Member States to cooperate in supporting this project. Japan made a contribution of 0.5 million euros to this project last year and is positively considering a further contribution.

In addition to its continuous financial contributions to the IAEA Technical Cooperation Funds, the Government of Japan has been strongly supporting the “Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI)” of the IAEA. We have just made a contribution of over $2 million this year, which is our fourth consecutive contribution since 2011. We are also supporting IAEA activities such as the support for nuclear power infrastructure development, human resource development and the promotion of public understanding of nuclear energy. We have been, for example, continuously making extra-budgetary contributions for IAEA work to strengthen public understanding of nuclear energy for the 25 years since 1990. As a contribution to the human resource development, we annually host “The IAEA Nuclear Energy Management School” since 2012 and will continue to host it in the future.
 

To conclude, Mr. President, Japan expresses its firm determination to continue to conduct peaceful nuclear activities while ensuring safeguards/non-proliferation, nuclear safety and nuclear security, and to contribute further to the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
 

Thank you, Mr. President