VIENNA – Japan’s nuclear energy promotion chief vowed in Vienna on Monday to continue work to decommission the reactors and contain the water crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in a transparent manner.
In his speech at the annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Yoshiaki Oka said, “We will continue to disseminate information proactively.”
He pledged to “proceed with the decommissioning and contaminated water management efforts in manners that are open to the international community.”
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been struggling to manage the ever-increasing amounts of contaminated at Fukushima No. 1. Work to dismantle reactors is also under way.
As for Japan’s nuclear energy policy, Oka explained that idled reactors will be reactivated only after satisfying new, stringent safety standards.
Noting that the No. 1 unit at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which became the first reactor in Japan to meet the standards introduced in July 2013, resumed commercial operation last Thursday, he said, “From now, we will take comprehensive efforts to realize the realistic and well-balanced energy-mix.”
During a reception it held at the IAEA headquarters on Monday, the Japanese government introduced sake and confectionery produced in Tohoku, the region hardest hit by the 2011 disasters.
“These products have been scientifically proven safe,” Oka said, expressing his willingness to emphasize to the international community the safety of Japanese food products in an effort to scrap or ease import restrictions on them.
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