Introductory Statement to Board of Governors, 3 March 2014, Vienna, Austria

As we approach the third anniversary of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the Agency continues to support Japan and to help strengthen nuclear safety throughout the world. The final reports to Japan of our international review missions on decommissioning, and on remediation of large contaminated off-site areas, have been made public. Both missions observed good progress in their respective areas. But the situation remains complex, and challenging issues must be resolved to ensure the plant's long-term stability. Progress continues to be made in implementation of the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety. The next International Experts' Meeting in two weeks' time will focus on severe accident management. The 6th Review Meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety will be held in Vienna from 24 March to 4 April. I hope it will have a productive outcome that will help to strengthen global nuclear safety. The Nuclear Safety Review 2014 shows that the operational safety of the world's nuclear power plants remains high. Significant progress has been made in strengthening nuclear safety in key areas such as assessments of safety vulnerabilities and strengthening the Agency's peer review services. Long-term operation of nuclear power plants is an important issue for many countries. Many of the world's nuclear power reactors have been in operation for 30 or 40 years or more. Managing these reactors safely in the long term poses challenges which need to be carefully assessed and managed.