On Monday French Prime Minister Francois Fillon implored the international community to create a “rapid intervention system” backed with equipment and expertise to react to severe nuclear accidents anywhere in the world.
While speaking at a nuclear plant in France, he also called for an international training center for nuclear operators and the convergence of safety standards. Fillon’s statements follow a recent proposal by France’s energy minister for “stress tests” similar to those underway in Europe that would be overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency at all power reactors.
Calls for further cooperation and strengthened international oversight are likely to come to a head next month at the IAEA’s annual meeting. The leader of that organization, Yukiya Amano, has already called for an international emergency response system and random inspections, although such proposals are likely to meet resistance from countries reluctant to cede regulatory authority over nuclear plants within their borders.
In France, the politicians’ proposals come as French utilities complete European Union-wide stress tests ordered following the Fukushima Daiichi crisis in Japan. Nuclear supplies 3/4 of French electricity, and the government consistently promotes firms like Areva and EDF abroad. But with a Reuters poll taken after the accident indicating some 75 percent of the French public wanted to turn away from the technology for the country’s long-term needs, the opposition Socialist Party is expected to make its anti-nuclear stance a key issue in next year’s elections.