Statement by Mr. Shunichi YAMAGUCHI,
Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy,
Head of Delegation of Japan
at the 58th General Conference of the IAEA
22 September 2014

Mr. President,
Mr. Director General,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the outset, let me congratulate you, Mr. President, on yourelection as President of the 58th General Conference of the IAEA.
The Government of Japan also welcomes the Union of the Comoros,
the Republic of Djibouti, the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and theRepublic of Vanuatu as new members of the IAEA. We highly
appreciate the work of the Agency to further promote peaceful uses ofnuclear energy and ensure non-proliferation through strengthening
the IAEA safeguards system. We commend DG Amano for hisleadership and the Secretariat for the tireless efforts to fulfill its
mandate and we will continue to support their efforts as much as wecan.
In April this year, the Government of Japan adopted the 4thStrategic Energy Plan to provide direction to Japan’s mid-to long-term
energy policy. Nuclear power was identified in this policy as animportant base-load power source. In line with this policy, theGovernment of Japan will carefully examine the volume of electricity
to be secured by nuclear power generation. To this end, we will take
into consideration Japan’s energy constraints from the viewpoint ofenergy supply stability, cost reduction, global warming andmaintenance of nuclear technologies and human resources.
Japanese nuclear power plants, all of which are currently shut
down, will be restarted once their compliance with the new
regulations is confirmed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).

The NRA completed the safety conformity review for Sendai NuclearPower Station this month and the government is now progressing
with the next steps which will lead to its restarting, in line with the
4th Strategic Energy Plan. The government will make efforts to obtainthe understanding and cooperation of relevant parties including themunicipalities hosting the nuclear facility site.
We firmly maintain the principle of not possessing reserves ofplutonium without specified purposes. We also continue toappropriately manage and utilize plutonium, taking into account thebalance of supply and demand. In this regard, the Japan Atomic
Energy Commission, which has been playing an important role in a
broad area of nuclear activities in Japan, was reformed this year. By
this reform, the Commission will be able to focus more on ensuring thepeaceful uses of nuclear energy in Japan and to help the Government
coordinate better for this purpose.
Japan will continue to provide nuclear technology with enhanced
safety based on lessons learned from the accident at the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company, andstrengthen support for human resources and institutional
development for countries which continue to embark on their nuclear
power programs.
Managing the aftermath of Fukushima Daiichi accident remains animportant task for us.
In September last year, the Government of Japan has developed abasic policy for the fundamental resolution of the issue, and has been
taking measures based on that policy in a step-by-step manner.
Thanks to the approximately 780 proposals which we received frominside and outside of Japan and by reflecting on those proposals, theGovernment of Japan formulated multilayered preventive plans tomanage the contaminated water issue. Measures such as“Groundwater bypassing” have been implemented as soon as they
became feasible. Concrete steps have been taken since last September
when we announced the basic policy. The entire Government isdetermined to continue working in an integrated manner to solve the2contaminated water issue. We hope that we will be able to report toyou on further progress next year.
There is also progress in the decommissioning work at theFukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station as well as the remediation
work in the surrounding areas. For decommissioning, the work is now
ongoing to remove fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool of Unit 4.
More than 80% of these assemblies have been removed already. Thework is expected to be done by the end of this year.
As a result of the progress made in the work for remediation,
evacuation orders were lifted in some affected areas in April this year
for the first time since the accident. We believe it is essential toenhance communication with the public, especially to enhance the risk
communication with returnees, so that they will have sufficientunderstanding of the risks associated with radiation. We have been
taking various initiatives to this end.
Dissemination of information to the international community
remains as crucial as its dissemination within Japan. We are striving
to provide as much information as possible to the international
community and to maintain transparency. For this purpose, we havebeen publishing marine monitoring results on a daily basis and inaddition to this we have been making the results of monitoring offoods, including fishery products, available once a week. Together withthe updates regarding the decommissioning process and thecountermeasures forcontaminated water, comprehensive
information is reported to the IAEA on a regular basis and madepublic through IAEA’s website.
Furthermore, food safety is assured by strengthened
administrative systems. In fact, import restrictions on food, inparticular on fishery products, have been eased in some countries andregions, including in Australia and the EU. In addition, a report on
the safety of fishery products covering all developments on this issue
after the accident was issued and made available to the international
community this May.
The work to deal with the aftermath of the accident at the3Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station is unprecedented in its
difficulties and requires enormous efforts through mobilizing
technologies, expertise and experiences from both Japan and abroad.
Last year, we received IAEA decommissioning missions and a
remediation mission. We appreciate the useful advice these missions
provided. We would like to take this opportunity to express ourgratitude to the IAEA and other organizations, as well as to thecountries which have given their support and advice to our country, fortheir work. We are planning to receive another IAEA decommissioning
mission, and will continue to work together with the IAEA and theinternational community.
Furthermore, in April next year we plan to establish aninternational collaborative research center on decommissioning inaddition to related facilities such as Mock-up Testing Facility andRadioactive Analysis Facility in the Japan Atomic Energy Agency,
bringing together expertise and knowledge from academia, industry
and governments, with a view towards promoting R&D activities ofadvanced technologies on decommissioning as well as developing
human resources in this area. This center will be a base for
information sharing on R&D outcomes from all over the world. Itshould also contribute to the dissemination of this information to theworld.
It is our country’s responsibility to contribute to the improvementof nuclear safety in the world by sharing with the international
community the experience and lessons learned from the Fukushima
Daiichi accident.
The Government of Japan attaches great importance to the steady
implementation of the IAEA Nuclear Safety Action Plan adopted in
September 2011. As part of such implementation, we are sharing ourexpertise through dispatching experts to International Experts’
Meetings and have decided to receive an Integrated Regulatory
Review Service (IRRS) of the IAEA towards the end of 2015. Also,regarding the improvement of the effectiveness of the international
legal framework, one of the twelve main actions of the Action Plan, weexpressed our intention to conclude the Convention on Supplementary4Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC). We strongly believe that
this action would contribute to the establishment of a global
framework on nuclear liability and to the management of theaftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
Last but not least, Japan will continue to actively cooperate withthe IAEA to formulate the IAEA Fukushima report.
Japan continuously contributes to improving nuclear security
domestically and internationally.
Japan deposited the instrument of acceptance of the Amendment tothe Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material on
June 27 this year. In addition, Japan will receive the IAEA
International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) mission inFebruary next year.
Last year, the Integrated Support Center for Nuclear
Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security (ISCN) in Tokai, Japan,
provided seminars on peaceful uses of nuclear energy and training
courses on nuclear security to approximately 350 experts from Asianand other countries. Total number of such trainees since its inception
in 2010 reached 1200. To enhance coordination with the IAEA for suchtraining activities, the ISCN concluded a Practical Arrangement with
the IAEA in September 2013. The ISCN also continues to be engaged
in R&D activities in fields such as nuclear forensics.
Japan will make further efforts to enhance global nuclear security
through our collaboration with the IAEA and other countries.
Japan has supported and continues to support the strengthening of
the effectiveness and efficiency of the IAEA safeguards system. In thisregard, Japan welcomes the fact that two comprehensive safeguards
agreements and four additional protocols entered into force in 2013.
Japan strongly condemns North Korea’s continued development of
its nuclear and missile programs as these pose a serious threat topeace and security not only for East Asia but also for the entire
international community.
Recently, North Korea once again launched ballistic missiles, in5

clear violation of UN Security Council Resolutions. Provocations byNorth Korea, including nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches,
represent a grave challenge to the international non-proliferation
regime centered on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) andare totally unacceptable. Japan urges North Korea to refrain from any
further provocative actions, to take concrete steps toward complete,verifiable and irreversible denuclearization and immediately cease all
related activities, to fully comply with the 2005 Joint Statement of the
Six-Party Talks and relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, and toreturn to compliance with the NPT and IAEA safeguards.
Japan, in this regard, fully supports the IAEA’s continued
involvement in this issue.
With regard to the Iranian nuclear issue, Japan fully supports theefforts by the EU3 plus 3 in pursuit of a final and comprehensive
resolution of the issue. Also in this context, Japan fully supports theIAEA’s role in this issue especially in verification and monitoring
activities for the purpose of ensuring the exclusively peaceful natureof Iran’s nuclear program as well as its efforts to resolve all
outstanding issues, including possible military dimensions. In order tosupport IAEA’s efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, Japan
made extra-budgetary contribution of 420,000 euros to the IAEA.
The Government of Japan attaches great importance to thepromotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, one of the pillars of theNPT, and makes contributions to activities in this area. Japan
believes that the benefits of peaceful uses of nuclear science andtechnology should be enjoyed by all IAEA member states, especially bydeveloping countries, and continues to support the IAEA activities forpower- applications of nuclear energy in fields such as thedevelopment of infrastructure and the enhancement of public
understanding, as well as for non-power applications in areas such as
health, food, agriculture, water management and the environment.
The IAEA ReNuAL project is beneficial for all Member States.
Japan would like to call upon all Member States to cooperate insupporting this project. Japan made a contribution of 0.5 million euros
6to this project last year and is positively considering a furthercontribution.
In addition to its continuous financial contributions to the IAEA
Technical Cooperation Funds, the Government of Japan has beenstrongly supporting the “Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI)” of the IAEA.
We have just made a contribution of over $2 million this year, which is
our fourth consecutive contribution since 2011. We are also supporting
IAEA activities such as the support for nuclear power infrastructuredevelopment, human resource development and the promotion of
public understanding of nuclear energy. We have been, for example,continuously making extra-budgetary contributions for IAEA work tostrengthen public understanding of nuclear energy for the 25 years
since 1990. As a contribution to the human resource development, weannually host “The IAEA Nuclear Energy Management School” since2012 and will continue to host it in the future.
To conclude, Mr. President, Japan expresses its firm determination
to continue to conduct peaceful nuclear activities while ensuring
safeguards/non-proliferation, nuclear safety and nuclear security, andto contribute further to the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear
energy.
Thank you, Mr. President

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