Nuclear: five years on, two international studies analyze causes and consequences of Fukushima

Scientific research and international cooperation are key to meeting nuclear safety goals. That is what emerged at the ENEA conference organized five years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power  plant.

Scientific research and international cooperation are key to meeting the goals of nuclear safety and protection and finding the  balance between the priority need for safety and the advisability of sticking with the nuclear energy path for those Countries already embarked upon nuclear power programs.  That’s what emerged from the conference “Five years after Fukushima: Finding the balance”, organized by ENEA five years after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

At the heart of the conference, two recent field case studies conducted by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the NEA (Nuclear Energy Agency), presented at the conference before experts and scientists from across the globe.

The IAEA report “The Fukushima Daiichi Accident” is the outcome of a collaboration among 180 experts from 42 member states and several international organisms and provides useful information on the causes and consequences of the accident to national authorities, international organizations and nuclear regulatory bodies.

The study “Five Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: Nuclear Safety Improvements and Lessons Learnt”, conducted by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency,  provides the results of studies and analyses carried out over the last five years on health, radiation protection and environmental safety issues, outlining the key tools to ensuring safety of nuclear reactors in the future, such as shared responsibility, cooperation, research and development.

During the conference the need emerged for a comprehensive review of the technical, regulatory and social aspects of the post-Fukushima and the role to be played by the scientific community as safety guarantor- also outlined in the Amendment to the EU Council Directive Euratom on nuclear safety. Another key instrument is open communication on nuclear safety matters to ensure transparency and accountability aimed at the protection of people and the environment.

The global energy framework must evolve in the direction of finding a balancing point between the need for safety and the energy demand also of those Countries, like Italy, that have chosen differently- Paride Meloni, ENEA researcher, pointed out. To this aim, scientific research is crucial to the safety of all nuclear activities, from energy production to industry and medicine, as international cooperation is to achieving new safety standards. ENEA is at the forefront of the nuclear safety issue both as research agency dedicated to the development of innovative solutions based on know-how and long-acquired skills and as Italian representative in the major european and international organizations’ events”.

For more information please contact:

Paride Meloni, paride.meloni@enea.it

Council Directive 2014/87/EURATOM

OECD-NEA Report:

Five Years after the Fukushima Daiichi Accident: Nuclear Safety Improvements and Lessons Learnt

IAEA Report: The Fukushima Daiichi Accident