Global General

G8 leaders agree tougher nuclear rules

By  Zhang Chunyan and Zhang Haizhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-27 13:09

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE – G8 leaders agree more stringent international rules on nuclear safety are needed after the nuclear crisis in Japan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday.

"We all wish to get a very high standard of regulation on nuclear safety, that will apply to all countries involved in civilian nuclear energy and which will take safety to the highest levels ever," Sarkozy said at a press conference at the summit in the French seaside resort of Deauville.

Nuclear safety is high on the summit's agenda as some countries ponder whether to reconsider their nuclear energy strategy following Japan's Fukushima accident in March.

Sarkozy said there was no alternative to nuclear power and insisted that safety, not cost, had to drive projects. "As far as nuclear is concerned the first criteria must be that of safety," he said.

France is the world's most nuclear-dependent country with 58 reactors that supply 80 percent of its power needs.

Other heads at the summit also attach huge importance to nuclear safety. EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called for worldwide "stress tests" on nuclear power plants.

"When we talk nuclear, we talk global. We want nuclear stress tests to go beyond Europe," Barroso told reporters.

European nuclear watchdogs agreed on Wednesday to check the resilience of the region's 143 reactors to earthquakes and other natural disasters, in what are called "stress tests".

"I will push for stronger global safety standards", Barroso added, notably through a revision of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) nuclear safety convention.

Japan wants to host a global meeting on nuclear safety with IAEA late next year, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told G8 leaders, the AFP quoted a senior government official as saying.

Struggling in rebuilding, Japan has drawn up a timetable in which it aims to stabilise the nuclear plant by early next year.

Now an international team of IAEA specialists are visiting and inspecting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan.

"We need better cooperation between nuclear security organisations around the world," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who froze Germany's nuclear plan after the Japan crisis.

Merkel said she was happy with the wording on nuclear safety G8 leaders would use in the final statement. "This is remarkable progress," she noted.

Russia, which is also a G8 member, said it was likely to win agreement from its G8 partners for its proposal for new legally-binding state responsibility for a nuclear power operator in case of a nuclear accident.

"The likelihood is very high because there is simply no alternative to that," Nikolai Spassky, the deputy head of state nuclear body Rosatom, said at a briefing on Thursday.

Spassky said that France and the US supported Russia's proposal. However, other members like Germany and Italy did not support the Russian approach.

Diplomats at the Vienna-based IAEA also noted member states are split over the issue of mandatory international safety rules, and whether a body like the IAEA should have powers to enforce them.

The details on the nuclear safety rules will be unveiled in a joint statement to be released on Friday when the G8 Summit wraps up.