Statement by Japan at the 62nd IAEA General Conference
Minister of State Masaji Matsuyama
17 September 2018

Madam President,
Madam Acting Director General,
Distinguished guests,

First of all, I would like to congratulate Ms. Marta Ziakova on her election
as the President of the 62nd IAEA General Conference. Japan highly
commends the IAEA’s work in promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy and nuclear non-proliferation. Japan will continue to fully support
the Agency and invites all Member States to do so.

I would like to begin by touching upon some of the most pressing issues
facing the international non-proliferation regime today.

North Korea’s Nuclear Issue
The first topic is North Korea’s nuclear issue. At the Summit between theUnited States and North Korea in June, the intention of Chairman Kim
Jong-UnoftheState

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denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was reaffirmed in the form of ona document. Japan supports this as a step towards the comprehensive
resolution of outstanding issues of concern regarding North Korea. The1

international community needs to come together to support the process
between the United States and North Korea.

In the meantime, the IAEA Director General’s recent report has pointed outthat North Korea continues its nuclear program. The situation surrounding
North Korea remains uncertain.

Japan strongly urges North Korea to dismantle all of its weapons of mass
destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete, verifiable andirreversible manner, in accordance with relevant United Nations Security
Council resolutions.

Verification is indispensable in achieving the denuclearization of North
Korea. Japan calls for cooperation by the international community to assist
the IAEA in playing a central role, making full use of its expertise andexperience.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
The second topic of importance is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA). Japan supports the JCPOA from the viewpoint of strengthening
the international non-proliferation regime and securing regional stability.
In this regard, Japan urges Iran and other parties to the JCPOA to continue
its implementation.

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The IAEA has an important role in monitoring and verifying theimplementation of the JCPOA. Japan, in collaboration with the IAEA,
hosted training programs for Iran on safeguards and nuclear safety as partof our support for the Agency’s activities. Japan will stand by the IAEA tosupport further efforts.

Madam President,

Next, I would like to share recent developments that are of significance toJapan’s nuclear policy.

Strategic Energy PlanFirst, the Strategic Energy Plan, which sets forth Japan’s medium- andlong-term energy policy, was revised in July for the first time in four years.
Based on this plan, Japan is working to achieve an optimal energy mix by
2030 by reducing its dependency on nuclear power as much as possible,
while restarting nuclear power plants with safety as the top priority.

Looking ahead to 2050 from a longer-term perspective, Japan will seek
every option for energy transitions and decarbonization. To this end, Japan
will immediately undertake to strengthen the foundations of humanresources, technologies and industries and aim for innovation in nuclear
power, by developing backend technology and pursuing reactors withenhanced safety and mobility, in view of international trends such as the3

development of innovative reactors.

Additionally, we will continue discussions in the Strategic Working Groupof the Governmental Council on Fast Reactor Development, while steppingup the efforts to enable the final disposal of radioactive waste, which
includes the publication of the Nationwide Map of Scientific Features for
Geological Disposal.

Japan will steadily move forward to implement the Strategic Energy Plan.

Basic Principles on Japan’s Utilization of Plutonium
Secondly, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission revised for the first timein fifteen years, the Basic Principles on Japan’s Utilization of Plutonium.
We have informed IAEA Member States through an Information Circularof this revision.

Japan will maintain adherence to the principle of not possessing plutonium
without specific purposes. Based on this principle, Japan announced apolicy of reducing the size of its plutonium.

The IAEA has concluded that all nuclear material in Japan, including
plutonium, remained in peaceful activities under stringent IAEA
Safeguards. Japan has no issues in relation to non-proliferation.
The Government of Japan is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities in4

nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. To this end,
we will steadily carry out plutonium thermal power generation, increasetransparency in the use and management of its plutonium, and accept
stringent IAEA Safeguards.

Japan will continue to communicate its nuclear energy policy to theinternational community through the IAEA and the White Paper on Nuclear
Energy published in July as well as other platforms, all with a view inpromoting transparency.

Post-Fukushima Efforts
Madam President,

Seven years have passed since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station. Japan is making steady progress in thedecommissioning work and the management of contaminated water. Japanwill accept the fourth peer review mission from the IAEA in November ofthis year.

Environmental remediation activities are continuing to move forward, withthe decontamination measures being completed as planned by the nationaland local governments. Japan will continuously provide information onthese developments to the international community in a transparent manner.
Many countries have already lifted the import restriction on Japanese foods5

in view of the strict food safety management system Japan applies,
including shipping restrictions, and monitoring results obtained to date. We
welcome this trend and call on all countries and regions to lift importrestrictions based on scientific evidence.

Nuclear Safety
Madam President,

Japan is working to further enhance nuclear safety. To date, nine nuclear
reactors have been restarted, and we will put safety first as we restart morereactors.

Cooperation with international organizations is another priority. Forinstance, Japan has been working to make further improvements in nuclear
regulations based on the recommendations and suggestions of theIntegrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) missions. Japan has
requested the IAEA to conduct an IRRS follow-up mission, which will be
conducted in the summer of 2019 or later. Japanese operators are also
continuing their own efforts to enhance safety, including accepting theIAEA’s Operational Safety Review Team follow-up mission on a regularbasis.

Additionally, Japan actively participated in the Review Meeting of the Joint
Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of6

Radioactive Waste Management, which took place earlier this year.

Building on the experience from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Station, Japan also contributes to advancing nuclear safety
worldwide through support for the IAEA Response and Assistance Network(RANET) Capacity Building Centre in Fukushima.

At the same time, Japan is also assisting in the development of
infrastructure and human resources in countries introducing nuclear powergeneration.

Furthermore, Japan calls upon all countries with nuclear power plants torequest peer reviews and develop human resources, urges all relevant
countries to give due considerations to safety when engaged ininternational nuclear cooperation, and underscores the importance ofappropriately disseminating information and maintaining transparency
regarding nuclear facilities including in case of emergency.

Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy
Madam President,

Promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is one of the three pillars ofthe NPT. Japan supports “Atoms for Peace and Development,” an initiative
undertaken by Director General Yukiya Amano, as it contributes to7

achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. From this standpoint, Japanwill serve as the co-chair of the IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear
Science and Technology, which will be held in November. I wish to kindly
request Member States’ support for the success of the upcoming
conference.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that Japan has
decided to contribute approximately one million US dollars in total,through the Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI), to technical cooperation
projects in the fields such as nuclear medicine and water resource
management. With this support, Japan’s total financial assistance throughthe PUI over the past year amounts to approximately 5.2 million US dollars(580 million Japanese Yen).

Japan also hopes for enhanced cooperation between the IAEA and Japanese
universities, research institutions, private companies, and development
agencies especially in the area of promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear
energy. Additionally, as we approach the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference
which will be held next month, I would like to reiterate the importance ofresearch and development in nuclear fusion.

Nuclear Security
Madam President,8

Nuclear security is another key area of Japan’s focus. In view of the Tokyo
2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japan and the IAEA signed practicalarrangements on cooperation in nuclear security measures this year. On thebasis of these arrangements, Japan will step up collaborative efforts withthe IAEA to increase readiness for countering nuclear terrorism.

Japan will also work to reinforce domestic nuclear security measures byreceiving the IAEA’s International Physical Protection Advisory Service
follow-up mission this autumn. Moreover, Japan will help to advancenuclear security worldwide through human resources development projects
conducted in cooperation with the IAEA and the Japan Atomic Energy
Agency’s Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Non-proliferation andNuclear Security.

IAEA Safeguards
Madam President,

IAEA Safeguards are an essential instrument for nuclear non-proliferation.
Japan strongly supports the IAEA’s efforts to make safeguards moreeffective and efficient. At the same time, Japan will keep up the stringent
implementation of domestic safeguards.

With the aim of further strengthening the international non-proliferation
regime, Japan attaches particular importance to the universalization of the9Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and its Additional Protocols. Japanstrives to help universalize the Additional Protocols and make Safeguards
more effective and efficient, through contributing to the success of theIAEA Safeguards Symposium, to be held in November, as well as the Asia
Senior-Level Talks on Non-Proliferation and the Asia Pacific Safeguards
Network. We call upon the international community to make further efforts
in this area.

Conclusion
Madam President,In closing, I would like to reiterate, on behalf of my government, Japan’s
firm commitment to further promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy
and strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Thank you for yourkind attention.

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