Brussels, 31/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Nicolas Sarkozy is the first state to visit Japan since the natural disaster on 11 March that devastated the country and which is responsible for the unprecedented nuclear threat at the Fukushima Daichi plant. On Thursday 31 March, the French president proposed that the nuclear authorities in G20 countries meet in Paris next May to define international safety standards. During a press conference with the Japanese prime minister, Naoto Kan, the French head of state declared that “it is completely abnormal that these international safety standards do not exist. International nuclear safety standards are needed before the end of the year”. This meeting will help prepare the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) planned for the end of June.
Sarkozy denied that the use of nuclear energy in France was being questioned. The French president stated that “now is not the time for arguments. France is assuming its responsibilities as a country that has chosen nuclear energy. Nuclear energy for civilian purposes is an essential factor of its energy independence and the fight against greenhouse gas emissions”. He added that “this choice is accompanied by an imperative demand for the safety of French nuclear plants, a demand that the whole world completely recognises”. He also confirmed that France would be applying a systematic auditing system of all its nuclear plants and promised that “if these do not pass the test, they will be closed”. (E.H./transl.fl)