Agenda Item 4 : Nuclear Safety Review 2021
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
BOARD OF GOVERNORS’ MEETINGS
(March X, 2021)
Agenda Item 4 : Nuclear Safety Review 2021
Statement By India
Madam Chair,
My delegation would like to thank the Director General for his introductory remarks as well as for providing an overview of the global trends and activities in 2020 and the priorities for 2021 and beyond for strengthening nuclear, radiation, transport and waste safety and emergency preparedness and response.
While associating ourselves with the statement delivered by the distinguished Ambassador of Costa Rica on behalf of G-77 and China we have a few additional comments to make.
Madam Chair,
As the responsibility for nuclear safety within a State rests with that Member State, continuous efforts at national level in enhancing safety in all areas of peaceful uses of nuclear and radiation technology is of paramount importance. We also recognize the central role of the IAEA in establishing global standards for nuclear safety. India is committed to implement the IAEA’s safety standards and India’s own initiatives have been in line with the IAEA’s plans and have strong international linkages in the area of nuclear safety. We welcome the Agency’s report “The IAEA and the COVID-19 pandemic” in reporting the experiences of the agency and member states in managing safety related activities during the pandemic.
The international community continues to learn lessons from the Fukushima accident. We urge the Agency to remain engaged with Japan in their decommissioning and remediation efforts and widely share the experience with the international community towards further enhancement of safety and emergency preparedness at the global level.
We acknowledge that the revision of Safety Requirements to include lessons from the Fukushima Daiichi accident has been completed. However, we feel that this is not enough, as the challenge remains in the proper implementation of these requirements in various stages of nuclear power plant siting, design, construction, commissioning and operation. We encourage the Agency to review and revise the relevant safety documents and assist the member states to implement the new requirements identified in the document. The Agency should also organize events such as technical meetings, workshops and training to publicize these documents. India will continue to participate in the international initiatives in this regard.
India considers the role of nuclear power as vital for long term energy security and sustainable development of the country and remains committed to implementing the highest level of safety at its nuclear facilities. India has a robust nuclear safety culture. Nuclear safety issues are monitored under stringent guidelines set up by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board. We have been regularly reporting the progress in the National Reports to the Review Meetings of the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Nuclear Safety (CNS) and we look forward to active participation in the 8th Review Meeting of CNS.
Madam Chair,
India is a signatory to the “Convention on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency”, which sets out an international framework for cooperation among states parties and the IAEA to facilitate prompt assistance and support in the event of nuclear accidents or radiological emergencies. India has been actively playing the role of an assistance offering country and would continue to assist by way of providing technical experts for responding to any emergency situation, as and when specific requests are received from the IAEA. India is a member of the IAEA Response and Assistance Network (RANET), showing a strong commitment to strengthen the international framework for nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness and response.
Madam Chair,
The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) Mission relating to the review of Nuclear power plants in India was conducted by the Agency in 2015. While this provided an opportunity to improve the regulatory effectiveness and sharing of international experiences relating to Nuclear Power plants, India has requested the Agency to conduct the follow up mission. The follow-up mission has an extended scope of including Radiation source facilities and activities apart from the review of Nuclear Power Plants. We are hopeful that the extended follow up mission would serve further to reinforce the safety of Nuclear Power Plants and Radiation Source facilities and activities in India, while enhancing the capabilities of the regulator. We are thankful to the IAEA for agreeing to our request for conducting this mission.
With these comments, Madam Chair, we take note of the Nuclear Safety Review - 2021, as contained in the document GOV/2021/3.
I thank you for your attention.
