Japan promises to enact new global nuclear safety plan

Sep 19, 2011, 11:21 GMT

Vienna - Japan is striving to implement a new global action plan on nuclear safety, the country's Energy Minister Goshi Hosono told member nations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Monday in Vienna.

His statement at the annual IAEA general conference came as public confidence in nuclear energy has been shaken in Japan and around the world after the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in March.

'Japan will make every effort for the implementation of the action plan on nuclear safety,' the minister said.

Hosono said Japan had sent a second report on the accident to the IAEA last week, and is planning to reform its nuclear regulatory authority until April to make it more independent, in line with the action plan adopted by the IAEA board last week.

However, he did not reveal a schedule for stress tests for Japan's nuclear reactors.

The action plan calls for improved transparency on safety issues, for independent nuclear safety authorities, and for global stress tests, to account for extreme natural forces such as the earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima power station.

In Tokyo, tens of thousands of people who want to stop all nuclear plants in Japan protested in the city centre Monday.

Read more about Japan