2016 Five Years after Fukushima 062

The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has just published a new report entitled Five Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: Nuclear Safety Improvements and Lessons Learnt.

Download the report

 

The report focuses on the actions undertaken by the NEA and its member countries at the national and international levels to improve nuclear safety and to implement the lessons learnt from the March 2011 accident. It also offers a series of conclusions and identifies some of the challenges that remain.

Commenting on the report, NEA Director‑General William D. Magwood, IV noted that "Despite the Fukushima tragedy, and taking into account the lessons drawn from the accident, the nuclear safety regulators in NEA member states consider that the nuclear power plants in their countries were and remain safe to operate." Referring to work that has been carried out to address natural hazards and emergency preparedness, he indicated that, "The great lesson of Fukushima is that we cannot predict every natural event, but as this report highlights, by drawing on the lessons learnt, the plants have been made more resilient and better prepared for the unexpected than they were five years ago."

Dr Jean-Christophe Niel, Director-General of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) and Chair of the NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA) which took the lead in preparing the report, stressed that international co-operation is a key element in the continuous improvement of nuclear safety, pointing out that "The activities of the NEA bring together the world's top-level international experts in a forum for sharing lessons and experience, and for working together to identify and implement effective approaches to further improve the nuclear regulatory regimes and the safety of nuclear power plants." Dr Niel also stressed "the importance for nuclear safety of ensuring effective prime responsibility of the operators, independence of the safety authorities and involvement of stakeholders."

Mr Magwood noted that while NEA countries have made significant progress since the accident and continue to make further progress towards enhancing safety, there is still more to be done. We must address the human aspects of safety, such as ensuring effective safety cultures for both operators and regulators and continuing to learn from safety research, including through the NEA's international joint research projects. He also recalled that "it is important to remember that nuclear safety is a continual process that evolves as we learn through operating experience and research, not just from what happened at Fukushima but also from the implementation of the responses to the accident."

2016 Five Years after Fukushima 121

2016 Five Years after Fukushima 118  

Webcast and Press Conference

Five Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident:
Nuclear Safety Improvements and Lessons Learnt

Monday, 29 February 2016 at 14:00-15:00 Paris time
OECD Conference Centre Auditorium
2 rue André-Pascal, 75016 Paris

Introductory statements


14:00  His Excellency Ambassador Kazuo Kodama,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
Permanent Representative, Permanent Delegation of Japan to the OECD
14:05  Mr William D. Magwood, IV,
Director‑General, Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)

Keynote speakers


14:15  Mr Jean-Christophe Niel (presentation delivered by Mr Ho Nieh),
Director‑General, French Nuclear Safety Authority
and Chair of the NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities (CNRA)
14:25  Mr Ho Nieh,
Head of the NEA Division of Nuclear Safety Technology and Regulation
14:35  Questions & answers

Video

 

See also