9 Mar 2012

IAEA / FUKUSHIMA ANNIVERSARY

One year after the nuclear accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the IAEA’s Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security Denis Flory discusses what the IAEA has learned from the accident. IAEA

Posted at: March 9, 2012 4:42 pm

Duration: 03:02

Available in: SD

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STORY: IAEA / FUKUSHIMA ANNIVERSARY
TRT: 3:02
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE - 27 MAY 2011, FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, JAPAN

1. Pan right, bus entering damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant to  damaged reactor unit 4
2. Wide shot, debris from the tsunami that has been cleared
3. Wide shot, damaged reactor unit

RECENT - IAEA VIENNA, AUSTRIA

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Denis Flory, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, IAEA: 
"What we have learned first is that there is a need for global nuclear safety framework. There is a need to implement the safety standards that are developed in the agency and which really are the basis for a high level of safety. What we have learned also is that nuclear regulators must be strong, they must be independent. We have learned at the same time that it is working together at the global level that can help strengthen safety at a continuous way."

FILE - 27 MAY 2011, FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, JAPAN

5. Wide shot, bus drives by more debris and damaged reactor unit 
6. Med shot, devastation at the water line of the power plant 
7. Pan left, team explores damaged area near the plant's water line

RECENT - IAEA VIENNA, AUSTRIA

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Denis Flory, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, IAEA:
"If this knowledge that this could happen had been available then the height of the wall to prevent against Tsunami might have been higher. There could have been also water tight doors which would have prevented flooding of the buildings. The diesel generators might have been higher on the hill so that not to be also drowned by the tsunami and most important also there should have been measures taken to manage a severe accident and this was not forseen and the staff was not trained to for such severe accident. The training of the staff might have prevented an escalation of the accident."

FILE - 27 MAY 2011, FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, JAPAN

8. Tilt up, dry cask storage facility to team

FILE - 25 JULY 2011, FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, JAPAN

9. Wide shot, group examining reactor unit 2 and 3 
10. Wide shot, Amano at reactor unit 2 and reactor unit 3

RECENT - IAEA VIENNA, AUSTRIA

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Denis Flory, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, IAEA: 
"You never can say an accident will not happen. What you can do is reduce the possibility that it happens and if it happens make sure that the consequences will be minimal. This is the work in safety to protect to avoid accidents by all means, strengthening operators, strengthening regulators, strengthening the international regulations, the IAEA safety standards. But this is also preparing for the case of another accident. Emergency preparedness and response must be totally in the culture of all nuclear industries of all nuclear actors."

FILE - 25 JULY 2011, FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, JAPAN

12. Wide shot, damage at plant's water line 
13. Wide shot, bus driving past damaged oil storage tanks

STORYLINE:

One year after the nuclear accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant on 11 March, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that nuclear power is safer than it was a year ago - as the nuclear industry, regulators and governments act on the lessons of Fukushima.

IAEA's deputy-director-general and head of the department of nuclear safety and security Denis Flory said that safety standards that are developed in the agency need to be implemented and that nuclear regulators must be strong and independent.

In hindsight, he said the height of the wall to the power plant would have been higher to protect it against a Tsunami. There could also have been water tight doors which would have prevented flooding in the reactors.

Most important he said was that measures should have been taken to manage a severe accident and staff was not trained. "The training of the staff might have prevented an escalation of the accident," he said.

On whether something this severe could ever happen again, Flory said that one can never say an accident will not happen, but you can reduce the possibility that it happens to minimize the consequences.

He added that "emergency preparedness and response must be totally in the culture of all nuclear industries of all nuclear actors."

At the board of governors meeting earlier this week, IAEA Director General Yukiya   Amano said a culture of constant vigilance and improvement was vital to ensure that the benefits of nuclear power could be harnessed as safely as humanly possible.

On 11 March 2011 a huge earthquake and tsunami left more than 20,000 people dead or missing in eastern Japan. Amidst widespread destruction, the tsunami slammed into Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, disabling cooling systems and leading to fuel meltdowns in three of the six units.

The accident was a jolt to the nuclear industry, regulators and governments. It was triggered by a massive force of nature, but it was existing weaknesses of design regarding defence against natural hazards, regulatory oversight, accident management and emergency response that allowed it to unfold as it did.