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France may preempt IAEA summit: President Nicolas Sarkozy wants G20 nuclear industry officials to come to Paris in May to discuss safety issues. This might rankle the United Nations, as such an event would preempt the IAEA’s summit in Vienna, planned for June. The IAEA lacks the power to force action on its recommendations, which is why nations like France may not want to wait for the U.N. body. “I suspect that this will not be appreciated on the 28th floor,” said a diplomat, referring to the office of IAEA Director General Yukiyo Amano. source

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2011 15:58

» Clarifying the lessons learned? Yukiyo Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has called a nuclear safety summit in Vienna. He wants all hands on deck for this, with ministers from all 151 member states in attendance. It’s an obvious move, and frankly it would be hard for the IAEA to have claimed much credibility if they had failed to do something like this. That said, this is a worthwhile reminder that safety reviews are always better early than late.

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

Taniguchi has been a weak manager and advocate, particularly with respect to confronting Japan’s own safety practices, and he is a particular disappointment to the United States for his unloved-step-child treatment of the Office of Nuclear Security.
A U.S. diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks • On Tomohiro Tanaguchi, the man who was the IAEA’s (International Atomic Energy Agency) Deputy Director General for the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security from 2001 to 2009. While another cable reveals that Tanaguchi urged fellow officials to focus more on nuclear power safety in 2008 (which seems like the sort of thing you shouldn’t need to tell the IAEA), it seems that this plea late in his career was not enough to salvage the opinion of American diplomats, who express a great degree of angst over the state of Japan’s nuclear earthquake preparedness. Tomohiro departed his position in 2009, leaving the position to another Japanese member, Yukiya Amano, who currently holds the post. source

Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

The key issue is that Iran does not agree to export its lightly enriched uranium. That’s not a minor detail. That’s the whole point of the deal.
A senior International Atomic Energy Agency official • Discussing (off the record) the details of Iran’s response to that nuclear deal that seemed like it could be a major breakthrough last week. The sticking point? The U.S. was trying to get the country to ship most off its nuclear material to other countries for enrichment into materials that couldn’t be made into weapons. Iran wants to wait to export the material until the fuel assemblies are built for their reactor in Tehran, at which point the whole agreement means nothing. • source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

They (the West) tell us: you give us your 3.5 percent enriched uranium and we will give you the fuel for the reactor. It is not acceptable to us. The IAEA is obliged to provide us with the fuel based on the safeguards.
Deputy Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar • Describing why he’s against the agreement the International Atomic Energy Agency worked up to send low-enriched uranium to other countries for further enriching. If it goes through, it could be a huge diplomatic win for the U.S. Word is that Iran might try to work some amendments to the deal, but it could fall flat completely if Iran crosses what the U.S. describes as “red lines” designed to make sure Iran’s not making nuclear weapons. • source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink