Press Releases

1. Six governors and other officials (Côte d'Ivoire, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Singapore, the Netherlands, Mexico and Algeria) of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited Japan from October 23 to 29 at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. This invitation is one of the ongoing activities aimed at encouraging a further deepening of the international community’s understanding on the most advanced nuclear energy activities in Japan, and in particular Japan’s efforts to utilize peaceful uses of nuclear energy, chiefly through the human health and medical applications of radiation, and its efforts following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

3. The delegation exchanged views with nuclear energy experts, and also visited the National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST)’s Takasaki Advanced Radiation Research Institute, as well as Gunma University’s and Hidaka Hospital’s heavy ion radiotherapy facilities for cancer treatments. In addition, the delegation visited Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and observed the sites of the reactor decommissioning, contaminated water management and other efforts that Japan has been undertaking thus far. The IAEA positions promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy as one of its major goals, and has been carrying out technical cooperation activities for developing countries in a variety of fields. Among them, the human health and medical applications of radiation is a field where developing countries’ interests have been rapidly increasing.