| Record of The Fourth Coordinators Meeting (CM)
March 5-7, 2003, Naha-Shi, Okinawa, Japan
| 1. |
The Fourth CM was held from March 5 through 7, 2003 in Naha-Shi, Okinawa, Japan, hosted by the Cabinet Office (CAO) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan.
Mr. Keiichi Inamine, the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture gave the welcome remarks, Mr. Hideaki Ohmura, Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (CAO), made an Opening Speech and Dr. Sueo Machi, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan gave the opening remarks.
The Meeting was participated in by delegates from FNCA countries, and two observers from IAEA (Attachment 1). The program of the Meeting is shown in Attachment 2.
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| 2. |
In Session 1, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan gave a summary report of activities in FY 2002 and the Third FNCA Meeting in Seoul (Ministerial Level Meeting [MM] and Senior Officials Meeting [SOM]) (Attachment 3). He stressed that the partnership and the linkage with end-users should be further strengthened for the FNCA activities.
The Meeting noted the report.
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| 3. |
In Session 2, during the presentation of country reports (Attachment 4), the statements which need follow-up actions are as follows:
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| (1) |
Dr. Easey, the representative of Australia, pointed out that due to the limits on financial and human resources a constantly expanding program is unlikely to provide an environment in which efficient and effective cooperation can be maintained.
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| (2) |
Mr. Li, the FNCA Coordinator of China, reported that Chinese government has paid great attention to set up the domestic management system, to encourage more and more institutions to join the cooperation under the FNCA framework.
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| (3) |
Dr. Hastowo, the FNCA Coordinator of Indonesia stated that Indonesia is expecting support from FNCA member countries having nuclear power plants on the public information materials. He also offered to host the workshop on radioactive waste in 15-19 October 3 15-19 , 2003, and subworkshop on technetium generator as well as expert meeting on neutron scattering in Serpong, in the second week of January , 2004.
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| (4) |
Mr. Choi, the representative of Korea, offered to host the Workshop on Nuclear Safety Culture in early February 2004 in combination with the peer review of research reactor safety culture. He also supported Vietnam's proposal on gMarine Environmental Pollution Research and Monitoring using Nuclear and Nuclear-related Analytical Techniques and FNCA Databaseh.
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| (5) |
Mr. Adnan, the FNCA Coordinator of Malaysia, stated that his government was interested in participating in an additional project related to gNuclear Medicineh in the future. Mr. Dr. Khairul of MINT pointed out the application of electron beams to cleaning waste water for recycling as industrial use water was an interesting subject of research. Malaysia will host the Workshop on Industrial Application of accelerators for thin films this year.
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| (6) |
Dr. Dela Rosa, the FNCA Coordinator of the Philippines, mentioned that her government would host the Workshop on Mutation Breeding. The PNRI would provide FNCA participant countries with a copy of the multi-media on CD-ROM titled gAtom, Radiation and Radioactivityh.
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| (7) |
Ms. Jindarom, the representative of Thailand, proposed to host the FNCA Workshop on Human Resources Development (HRD) in October 2003, and requested speakers from Regional Speakers Bureau (RSB) of FNCA for the gNational Symposium on Nuclear Science and Technologyh to be held in June 2003. The support of an expert in Ko-NAA may be necessary for Thailand to conduct this work using local facilities.
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| (8) |
Dr. Tan, the FNCA Coordinator of Vietnam, said that the installation of an electron accelerator in Vietnam would be considered as a national project proposal. At this Meeting, Vietnam proposed a new FNCA project entitled: M arine E nvironmental P ollution R esearch and M onitoring using N uclear and N uclear-related A nalytical T echniques and FNCA D atabase. Vietnam expressed its willingness to host other some FNCA events planned in 2003, especially to host the 5th FNCA Ministerial Level Meeting to be held in 2004.
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| (9) |
Mr. K. P. Kim, the representative of the IAEA presented the mandate and mission of the Agency, and RCA program. He expressed the desire to have further synergy between IAEA/RCA and FNCA in the future, with a focus on enhancement of collaboration and complementarity of the activities at a project level. It is also mentioned that all regional projects of RCA are truly having a trans-boundary effect and not only focusing on a national issue. In this regard, it is recommended that FNCA and IAEA work in the same direction.
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| 4. |
In Session 3, the progress and the future directions of FNCA projects in the eight fields were introduced and reviewed. The Meeting approved the activities of on-going projects and their future plans. The Meeting agreed to the tentative schedule for Workshops/Meetings under the FNCA framework together with venues are shown in Attachment 5.
Major points discussed and/or agreed upon for each project were shown in Attachment 6. The three-year work plan of each project was also approved as shown in Attachment 7.
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| 5. |
In Session 4, a follow-up to the Third FNCA Meeting was made, and new project proposals were also reviewed as follows:
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< Sustainable Development and Nuclear Energy in Asia >
| (1) |
Dr. Jung, Vice President of Asia Pacific Energy Research Center, Institute of Energy Economics of Japan, presented an overview of the APEC energy demand and supply outlook up to 2020. He underscored the importance of nuclear power for energy security and for environmental protection. According to him, without a major crisis, the trend will be the same , : business as usual (BAU) for the next 20 years which are fossil fuel based. He also stressed that without the nuclear power option, most Annex 1 countries would not meet the environmental targets required by the Kyoto Protocol. However, he observed the nuclear industry is facing the problem of public acceptance. He strongly urged that the nuclear power option be kept.
He said that the nuclear industry should need ed to show the cost reductions like the natural gas utilization if it were to become a more competitive energy source.
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| (2) |
Dr. Machi, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan presented the revised project proposal on gSustainable Development and Nuclear Energy in Asiah i Attachment 8 j .
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| (3) |
The representative of Australia stated that there were no plans for Australia to participate in the project at this stage.
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| (4) |
The FNCA Coordinator of the Philippines mentioned that recommendations during the Round Table Discussion of the Third FNCA Meeting had been taken into account in the revised proposal.
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| (5) |
Dr. Hastowo, the FNCA Coordinator of Indonesia expressed his satisfaction that the proposal was finally approved.
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| (6) |
The Meeting approved the implementation of the project subject to availability of funds.
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< Strategy for Human Resources Development >
| (1) |
Dr. Machi, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan presented a paper on this subject (Attachment 9).
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| (2) |
It was agreed that the survey on available human resources and the future demand in accordance with the national nuclear program should be completed. In relation with the survey, Prof. Aritomi of Tokyo Institute of Technology made a presentation on gEducation Systems Related to Nuclear Human Resources Developmenth.
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| (3) |
The Asian Network of for Higher Education and Training in Nuclear Technology i ANENT j / the Asian Nuclear Research, Education and Training Network (ANRETN) proposed by Korea will be reviewed based on the result of the survey.
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| (4) |
The Meeting noted the parallel initiatives of IAEA on this subject.
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| (5) |
The Coordinator of the Philippines stated the requirement of nuclear research institutions in the FNCA countries for post graduate academic training. As a strategy, the fellow can take the core subjects in the local university and conduct his/her thesis or dissertation in the appropriate FNCA country through the project ANRTEN ANENT / ANRETN .
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| (6) |
Mr. Adnan, the FNCA Coordinator of Malaysia proposed another strategy which is the extension of the maximum period of stay of MEXT Nuclear Researchers Exchange Program from one year to 2 - 3 years to facilitate post-graduate study to get a MS/Ph. D. degree.
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< Project Proposal on Marine Environmental Pollution Research and Monitoring using Nuclear and Nuclear-related Analytical Techniques>
| (1) |
Dr. Le Van So of Vietnam presented the revised proposal on M arine E nvironmental P ollution R esearch and M onitoring using N uclear and N uclear-related A nalytical T echniques (Attachment10) which is focused on toxic heavy metals and the establishment of FNCA database.
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| (2) |
It was noted that the current related IAEA/RCA project deals with marine radioactivity.
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| (3) |
Dr. Easey of Australia suggested that it would not be efficient to establish a separate FNCA database. He suggested that the data on heavy metal concentrations in water, sediment and biota produced by the project should contribute to databases established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
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| (4) |
The Meeting recommended that the selection of sites for monitoring should be linked with specific environmental problem of each country.
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| (5) |
The Meeting noted that collaboration with marine research institutes is necessary in the planning and implementation of the project.
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| (6) |
It was noted that the propos al ed project can be implemented within the on-going project on gNeutron Activation Analysish.
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< Maintenance Network of Nuclear Medical Instrumentation >
| (1) |
The revised proposal on gMaintenance Network of Nuclear Medical Instrumentationh was presented by Dr. Hastowo of Indonesia (Attachment 11). He stressed the importance of maintenance of gamma cameras in his country where two-thirds of these were out of order. Accordingly the Meeting noted the project focus on gamma cameras.
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| (2) |
The importance of a survey on the condition of gamma cameras in terms of operation and maintenance was recognized as a necessary prerequisite in order to formulate a work plan for the project.
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| (3) |
Mr. Li of China stated that the implementation of the survey in China is difficult because many hospitals are under the control of several departments, and located in different provinces.
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| (4) |
Dr. Easey of Australia pointed out that the IAEA had extensive information on the maintenance of gamma cameras which might be used instead of the survey.
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| (5) |
Finally, Dr. Machi, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan was requested to consult with IAEA experts on the current problems and condition of gamma cameras' maintenance in FNCA countries before the proposal will be approved. |
6.
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In Session 5, Dr. Machi presented the points of discussion (Attachment 12) to promote FNCA activities more efficiently.
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| (1) |
Role of Leading Countries and Definition of Project
Following the definition of Projects and Leading Country approved at the Third CM and the Third FNCA Meeting and noting the comments of this M eeting, the list of fields, projects, and activities was revised (Attachment 13).
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| (2) |
Strengthening Linkage with End-Users of Technologies to be Developed
FNCA Projects are to achieve socio-economic development and therefore must be demand-driven and not simply informational. The technology outcomes must reach the end-users. Dr. Easey suggested that project deliverables should be clearly indicated in a project proposal. FNCA Coordinators should support project leaders in their efforts to communicate and cooperate with end-users. It was suggested that O pen L ectures be conducted in conjunction with the Workshops. This approach has been done in the Workshops on Radiation Oncology and Low Energy Electron Beam in Japan and in the Utilization of Research Reactors in Indonesia. Mr. Adnan stated that Malaysia had also organized Open Lectures for the public in
many occasions.
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| (3) |
Strengthening the Partnership in FNCA Activities
Increased government support, such as funding for projects carried out by scientists in each country, and the recognition of FNCA activities as part of the national programs is desirable. Governments are encouraged to fund FNCA projects. For some countries this might necessitate the establishment of a formal document for the FNCA c ooperation. This matter may be discussed in future meetings. It was recommended that at the national level, linkages between FNCA Coordinators and Project Leaders be enhanced.
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| (4) |
Synergy of FNCA Activities With Other Technical Cooperation Programs of Japan
Dr. Machi again pointed out the MEXT Nuclear Researchers Exchange Program operated by JAERI, JNC, NIRS and other institutions that provide good opportunities for scientists from FNCA countries to stay in Japan for one year and undertake cooperative research relevant to the FNCA project. Also Japanese experts can be invited by FNCA countries to enhance a particular FNCA project. He also drew attention to the seminars on nuclear safety funded by the MEXT.
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| 7. |
Dr. Hans Holger Rogner, Head, Planning and Economic Studies Section, IAEA, presented his paper entitled, gNuclear Power and Sustainable Developmenth. He emphasized that in the chain of energy sources, seven compatibility criteria must be satisfied. Taking into consideration the global energy demand on one hand and the changing requirements for sustainable development on the other hand, the nuclear energy option remains a credible one. He strongly cautions against foreclosing the energy option since this runs counter to sustainable development. He urged active efforts to keep the nuclear option alive. It is not for the present generation to deprive future generations the choice to decide on the options they will take.
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| 8. |
Plan of the Fourth FNCA Meeting, as the first or second week of December 2003, Okinawa, was introduced.
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| 9. |
Technical Tour
A technical tour to the Fruit Fly Eradication Facility was made on 5 th of March 5C 2003. The impressive accomplishments of the Japanese government in eradicating the melon fly and the oriental fruit fly in the Okinawa Islands were noted by the delegates. The facility has served as a training laboratory for sterile insect technique (SIT) researchers from a number of FNCA countries through the IAEA fellowship program. Collaboration between the RCA and the FNCA for the training on SIT could be developed. |
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