IAEA POST ACCIDENT REVIEW MEETING
ON THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT, 25-29 AUGUST 1986
REPORT BY DR JOHN H GITTUS (UKAEA)
Monday, 25 August, Plenary Sessions
10.00 to 11.00 hours: Opening of the Meeting
The audience was divided between two rooms, one being provided with closed circuit television. The meeting commenced at 10.00 am, many TV crews being present for the first speech.
Blix, Director General of the IAEA, opening the meeting, said the results would be transmitted to the IAEA Board before its September meeting. He drew parallels with the Agency's response to the accident at Three Mile Island. Already, following the Chernobyl accident, at the Agency there had been formulated schemes for international accident notification and emergency response. These were to be formally adopted in September. We would not be asked to endorse any resolutions. A factual report to the IAEA Board of Governors on the outcome of the meeting would be prepared by the Secretariat and INSAG (the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group) in the week following the meeting.
Rometsch, Chairman of the meeting, spoke next. The
meeting had three objectives as he saw it:
(1) To understand the lessons of Chernobyl
(2) To apply them, where relevant, in our own countries
To assist future international collaboration on nuclear safety.
(3)
Legasov, head of the USSR delegation, then addressed the meeting. Construction of nuclear power plant was receiving priority in the USSR since without it they would be "unable to master" the next stage in the development of their society. The Chernobyl incident was a disaster. On a world scale it was leading to a re-evaluation of the part to be played in future by nuclear power. In the USSR since the accident there had been an intensive development of accident- prevention measures and a parallel analysis of the nature and effects of the accident itself. The work continues. The USSR would be entirely open to suggestions about decontamination and other methods of limiting the impact of the Chernobyl accident. would like to open up discussions on all possible ways of improving the reliability of nuclear installations, of reducing risk and of mitigating the damage done should another accident occur. He listed the many eminent USSR engineers and medical specialists who were present at the meeting, indicating their direct involvement with the practical response to the accident. His own work, apart from Chernobyl related responsibilities,
They
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