SIEW 2015: Moving towards a safer nuclear future

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano delivers a lecture entitled ‘Atoms for peace in the 21st century’.

The importance of nuclear safety was stressed by Mr Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at EMA’s Distinguished Speaker Programme (DSP). Mr Amano was in Singapore on 26 January 2015 as part of his regional tour to Southeast Asia.

“One country’s accident is every country’s accident,” he said, in his speech titled “Atoms for Peace in the 21st Century”. The need for greater transparency and cooperation was a strong thread in Mr Amano’s lecture, which was attended by 250 professionals from the public sector, energy industry and academia.

Mr Amano noted that the nuclear safety culture has strengthened since the Fukushima Daiichi accident. On his visits to various nuclear plants across the world, he observed marked improvements in safety measures. The concept of “safety comes first” is now unchallenged, Mr Amano stressed.

While he acknowledged that public confidence in nuclear power throughout the world remains low in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, Mr Amano pointed out that nuclear power remains an important energy option for many countries, especially in the context of volatile fossil fuel prices and climate change. What was important, Mr Amano said, was to address public concerns gradually through transparency in communications, stronger international cooperation and a transparent, robust and effective regulatory framework.

As two-thirds of the 69 new nuclear power reactors under construction are in Asia, Mr Amano expressed the IAEA’s willingness to strengthen collaboration with ASEAN countries on nuclear energy development and safety. For countries planning to add nuclear power to its energy mix, the IAEA will provide counsel on legal and regulatory frameworks, and how to ensure the highest standards of safety, security and safeguards.

Mr Amano shed light on the current research into enhancing nuclear safety through technological innovations, including high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, which are much safer than previous generations of reactors. He highlighted the good progress made in the management of high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel.

To download a copy of the speech, please click here.

EMA’s press release for the DSP with Mr Yukiya Amano can be found here.

For IAEA’s press release, please click here.

By : EMA