Brussels, 26/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Gathering for the G8 summit in Deauville under French presidency, on 26-27 May, G8 leaders (Germany, Canada, United States, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and Russia), which includes several of the world's nuclear powers, are expected to express their solidarity towards Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster and confirm the need to step up safety measures for power plants. Their final statement is expected to encourage the countries that house power plans to conduct audits as Europe is preparing to do using stress tests, and the international community should have an eye on ensuring the highest possible level of safety. The G8 will not enter into details, leaving detailed discussion on nuclear safety to the group of 20 economic powers meeting in Paris on 7-8 June and to the ministerial conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) scheduled to meet in Vienna on 20-24 June.
Represented by Presidents Herman Van Rompuy (European Council) and José Manuel Barroso (European Commission), the EU is expected, at the G8, to promote the highest possible safety standards around the world for nuclear energy, the head of the European executive explained on Thursday morning. This, he said, implies that “comprehensive and ambitious stress tests of nuclear power plants” be conducted. “When we talk nuclear, we talk global. We want nuclear stress tests to go beyond Europe”, Barroso stressed in a thinly veiled message directed at neighbouring Russia. The Commission president also announced that, after the summit, he would be pushing for stronger global safety standards, notably through revision of the Nuclear Safety Convention. Finally, Barroso expressed the hope that the countries that have not yet done so would announce their financial support for completion, by 2015, of work to make the Chernobyl site safe. Pending this, he promised a further €20 million in addition to the €110 million pledged on 19 April this year. (E.H./transl.jl)