Toward Post-Fukushima No. 9

9. Fukushima as seen from the Gulf
Christer Viktorsson
Deputy Director General, Operations,
Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, Abu Dhabi, UAE, www.fanr.gov.ae

Like everybody else in the nuclear sector, I was

The quake and the tsunami hit Japan as we wereglued to the TV and the internet on that Friday, 11in the midst of this extensive review. We

March 2011. Two natural disasters that took

immediately asked ENEC to look into their own

thousands of lives, and multiple system failuresapplication, especially to see if their calculations

which led to the nuclear accident in Fukushima

for external hazards, design and siting are needed

Nuclear Power Plant… My sorrow, as a nuclear

updating in light of the Fukushima accident.

safety expert with over three decades of experience,

ENEC’s review shall be delivered by the end of thisis nothing compared to that of the Japanese people.

year and FANR will include it into its assessment

My sympathy and thoughts are with them.

of ENEC’s licence application. According to our
initial plan, we expect to finish the review by theLearninglessonsfrompast

mistakesissummer of 2012. But, as we have been saying since

important for all aspects of life, but it is the pillar

Day 1 of the application, “we will take the timethat carries the nuclear sector. The United Arabneeded.”Emirates (UAE) is taking this fact very seriously.
And we, the Federal Authority for Nuclear

Obviously, effective independence of a nuclear

Regulation (FANR), have already taken concrete

safety regulator is a must, but a regulator cannot

steps. Here are some basic points:shoulder the responsibility for safety. It must havethe power to ensure that the licensees take that

The UAE Government decided in 2008 to launchapeaceful

nuclearpower

programme

responsibility

seriouslyanddevoteenoughandresources to it, human and technical. Ensuring theestablished FANR in 2009 as the federal regulator

presence of strong and vigilant safety and security

for radiation safety, nuclear safety, nuclear security,

cultures within the licensees is essential toand nuclear safeguards, the so-called “3S”s. Since

maintain and continuously enhance the safety of

its establishment, FANR has issued several

the workers and the public.

regulations in these fields and followed the global
nuclear safety regime. On 27 December 2010,FANR

hasalreadyestablishedstrongEmirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC)

international connections. Our staff made up thesubmitted to us an application for a licence tobiggest portion of the UAE Delegation during theconstruct two APR1400 type units in the Western

Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) Review

Region of the Abu Dhabi Emirate.

Meeting held in Vienna only a month afterFukushima. There, FANR Director General, Dr1Copyright © JAPAN NUS CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved

Toward Post-Fukushima No. 9

William D. Travers, expressed our keenness tomember

draw lessons and proposed a central sharing

responsibility and is a long-term obligation. We

mechanism or clearing house to give all states

take this obligation seriously and we are working

early and easy access to information on thehard to establish it in the UAE. We look forward topost-Fukushima efforts of all national programmes.

working cooperatively with all members of theENEC’s CEO, Mr. Mohammed Al Hammadi,

nuclear community and to contribute to thehighlighted the efforts needed by his organisation

continuous improvement of the global nuclear

to be able to master the safety of the nuclear power

safety regime, especially in the aftermath ofplants they plan to build.

Fukushima.

We in FANR, and in the UAE nuclear community
in general, follow and support not only the safetystate.

Thisisagovernmental

In spite of the Fukushima accident, two basic
factors have not changed for the UAE:

standards of the IAEA, but also its guidance in all•The UAE government continues to view nuclear

the 3S areas.

power as an important component of its future
In January this year, the UAE hosted the IAEA’senergy mix.

Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR)
Mission. This fall we are receiving another IAEA

•At the same time, it recognizes the concerns andteam of experts to review our preliminary findings

anxiety of the public about possible accidents andon the siting aspects of ENEC’s application. In

their radiological effects.

December, FANR will host one of the IAEA’s mostthorough safety reviews, the Integrated Regulatory

As a matter of fact, two of the six pillars of theReview Service (IRRS). FANR also has been

UAE’s nuclear policy are “highest standards ofsending its senior staff to take part in IRRS

safety and security,” and “complete operational

reviews

thetransparency”. Hence, FANR will continue to keep

establishment of domestic skills and resources inopenness and transparency among its core values.

ofothercountries.

Moreover,the nuclear safety, security and safeguards areas is
an important mission of FANR. IAEA support is

In short, nobody in the nuclear community will

also of outmost importance here. As of today, about

survive if we don’t take appropriate lessons fromhalf of our 120 staff members are UAE nationals.

this accident. It is good that we have no fatality
from ionising radiation that was released from theThe UAE relies heavily on the global safety
regime,onthearrangements,IAEA,

particularlyonourwithbi-lateral
theKorea

Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), and on ourcrippled reactors in Fukushima. But that is one
rare good thing among the many things that wentwrong. The studies will take a while, if not years,
to tell us what exactly went wrong, and how.

overarching efforts to utilize decades of world
experience in nuclear safety and its regulation.

One thing is clear, though: We must follow

FANR endorses the International Nuclear Safety

vigorous, high, and updated safety standards, andGroupmosttake every opportunity to improve safety, as we

important component of the global safety regime iscannot afford another failure. A strong anda strong national nuclear infrastructure in eachindependent nuclear safety regulator is necessary2(INSAG)

view thatthesingle

Copyright © JAPAN NUS CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved

Toward Post-Fukushima No. 9for any nuclear power programme, but it cannot
take the prime responsibility for safety, which
belongs to a licensee.
September 2011

3

Copyright © JAPAN NUS CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved