IAEA sees no second Chernobyl, no meltdown in Japan

Mar 14, 2011, 19:47 GMT

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano speaks duirng a press conference over the nuclear safety aspects of the Situation in Japan in Vienna, Austria on 14 March 2011. Yukiya Amano said in a statement to member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency that \'The Japanese authorities are working as hard as they can, under extremely difficult circumstances, to stabilize the nuclear power plants and ensure safety\'. EPA/ROLAND SCHLAGER

Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sought to calm global concerns Monday about nuclear accidents in earthquake-damaged Japan, stating that the situation would not escalate into a second Chernobyl.

A senior IAEA safety official said there is no sign of a reactor meltdown at the troubled Fukushima 1 power plant. However, the reactor's operator, TEPCO, had said earlier that a meltdown might have started.

The Vienna-based agency, whose job includes promoting nuclear power, on Monday held its first press conference in the wake of Friday's earthquake, which damaged the plant's cooling systems and led to a rise of pressure in reactor cores.

Hydrogen explosions have occurred at two of its six reactors since the magnitude-9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit.

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said the main difference with the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine 25 years ago is that no chain reaction is taking place in any of the Fukushima reactors, and that the Japanese reactor cores are housed in containment vessels that were not present in the Ukraine plant.

'The possibility that the development of this accident (turns) into the one like in the Chernobyl accident is very unlikely,' the Japanese agency chief said.

Senior IAEA safety official James Lyons acknowledged that it would be impossible to confirm for some time whether there was a meltdown - at least until the situation is brought under control and allows for a look inside the cores.

'I think at this time we don't have any indication of fuel that is currently melting at this point,' he said.

Amano confirmed that Japan asked the IAEA for help Monday. Details of the mission were still being discussed.

The nuclear agency stands ready to offer assistance in measuring radiation, tackling medical issues and providing emergency response.

So far, radiation that is 10 to 100 times above natural levels has been measured at the boundary of the Fukushima site.

'We are in a range which is not an indication of high risk,' said Denis Flory, the head of nuclear safety at the IAEA.

Amano stressed that the Japanese accident should not necessarily stop countries from starting nuclear power programmes. Some 60 governments are considering such a step at the moment.

'This is not an accident because of human errors or design,' the Japanese IAEA head told reporters. 'This is because of a huge natural catastrophe which was beyond the imagination and experience of people.'

The world will continue to need a stable source of energy and has to deal with global warming, he said.

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