Japan's Voluntary Contribution for the Enhancement of the Atmospheric Transport Modeling System of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
February 27, 2012
Japanese
- On 27 February 2012, the Government of Japan made a voluntary contribution of approximately 60 million yen to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization for a project to enhance the capability of the Atmospheric Transport Modeling system (ATM: a system for tracking radioactivity dispersion).
- The ATM is a calculation program to model and track the movement of air volumes to estimate the locations of sources of radionuclide particles by use of meteorological data. The effectiveness of the ATM by the CTBTO is widely recognized because of its original purpose of detecting a nuclear weapon test explosion as well as its capability to provide objective data regarding radioactivity dispersion in the case of nuclear power station accident. In fact, in the face of the accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station, the CTBTO, through close cooperation with Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) quickly provided the international community with accurate and objective information on the worldwide dispersion of radionuclides caused by the accident in Fukushima. As a result, the international society understood that radioactivity around the world is below harmful levels in an objective manner.
- It is expected that further enhancing the capability of this calculation program will, amongst others, enable the Signatories to the CTBT to predict and judge, through an international organization, the dispersion and influence of radioactivity more accurately based on more reliable scientific data authorized by an international organization.
Note:
The "CTBTO" referred to this press release is the "CTBTO Preparatory Commission" in the accurate term, as the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) has yet entered into force. This press release uses the term "CTBTO" for a practical reason.
- (*The foregoing is a provisional translation. The date indicated above denotes the date of issue of the original press release in Japanese.)
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