Atomic energy agency warns that lax safety culture is 'not an option'

THE head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has called for a worldwide review of safety measures to prevent disasters following the Fukushima nuclear plant catastrophe, insisting that "business as usual is not an option".

However, Yukiya Amano also warned that, since his organisation lacks the authority to enforce rules, any improvements are only effective if countries apply them.

While some countries at the 151-member IAEA's meeting in Vienna yesterday want any new safety regime to be mandatory, most prefer them to be voluntary and do not want a regulatory role for IAEA.

"Even the best safety standards are useless unless they are actually implemented," Mr Amano said.

Asked if he would like to see the IAEA have the same authority against safety violators as it now has against nuclear proliferators - which includes referral to the UN Security Council - he said: "I do not exclude that possibility".

But he said a sense of post-Fukushima urgency dictated action now under existing rules. "We have to move by days, weeks, months, and I cannot wait years" - the time it would take to revise the IAEA's mandate for the 35-nation board - he said. "We need to have a sense of urgency."

Outlining a five-point plan to improve nuclear reactor safety, Mr Amano called for strengthening of IAEA standards and ensuring they are applied; establishing regular safety reviews of all the world's reactors; beefing up the effectiveness of national regulatory bodies; strengthening global emergency response systems, and increasing IAEA input in responding to emergencies.

A draft of the conference's ministerial statement showed the gathering was content to work on upgrading present safety practices and emergency measures without giving the IAEA an enforcing role.

It called only for "a strengthened role of the IAEA in emergency preparedness and response by promoting and possibly expanding existing IAEA response and assistance capabilities." And it urged countries on the threshold of civilian nuclear programmes to "create a nuclear safety infrastructure based on IAEA safety standards".

Mr Amano also urged that the INES scale - which classifies nuclear incidents on a seven-point scale - be revamped. The March accident at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi was upgraded to seven, the highest on the scale, only on April 12. That was more than a month after a nine-magnitude earthquake and a tsunami overwhelmed the reactor's cooling system and radiation began leaking.

"Safety standards ... in particular those pertaining to multiple severe hazards such as tsunamis and earthquakes should be reviewed," Mr Amano told the meeting.He proposed "IAEA international expert peer reviews" to complement national safety checks, and establishing stockpiles of emergency equipment by reactor operators.

"Many countries have accepted (peer reviews]; European countries, Japan, the US," he said. "I would like to expand it, so that all nuclear power plants will see a peer review on a random basis."