The IAEA, supported by the Government of Japan, will designate a new Response and Assistance Network (RANET) Capacity Building Centre in the city of Fukushima next week.
The Centre will be home to several IAEA activities aimed at enhancing emergency preparedness and response capacity, both in Japan and worldwide, in light of the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
A ceremony to mark the designation of the Centre, which was designated following Practical Arrangements entered by the IAEA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in December 2012, will be held on 27 May 2013.
The first activity in the Centre, an IAEA RANET Workshop, will start the following day, and conclude on 31 May 2013. About 40 experts from 18 countries will participate in the Workshop, which will involve a field exercise in Fukushima Prefecture.
Through RANET, the IAEA can mobilise the expert support and equipment to facilitate the provision of international assistance by request under the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency.
The ceremony to mark the designation of the IAEA RANET Capacity Building Centre is open to the media. The ceremony, set to start at 14:00 at Fukushima Jichikaikan, will feature speeches by Ms. Elena Buglova, IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre Head; Ambassador Shin Maruo, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Fukushima Deputy Governor, Masao Uchibori. The ceremony will be followed by an informal press briefing.
In addition, journalists will have the following opportunity to cover the IAEA RANET Workshop:
09:30, 28 May 2013 at Fukushima Jichikaikan, Room 303: Opening statements by Ms. Elena Buglova, IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre Head, and Mr. Tetsuya Hasegawa, Director General, Living and Environment Department, Fukushima Prefecture.
For more information, please contact: IAEA Press Officer, Susanna Loof, Tel. [+43] 699-165-22046.