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1. |
The First Meeting of the Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) was
held in Bangkok, on 10th and 13th of November, 2000. Ministers and Senior
Officials from nine Asian countries comprising the Commonwealth of Australia,
People's Republic of China, Republic of Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea,
Malaysia, Republic of the Philippines, Kingdom of Thailand, and Socialist
Republic of Vietnam responsible for the peaceful nuclear research, development
and utilization met here. The Meeting also welcomed the participation of
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as an observer. The Meeting
was co-hosted by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE)
of the Kingdom of Thailand and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of Japan. |
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2. |
The Forum assumed the activities of the former International Conference
for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (ICNCA), which had been led by Japan for
the last ten years. At the Tenth Meeting of the ICNCA, the participating
countries agreed that the ICNCA should be transformed into the Forum for
Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) with the first Forum Meeting to be held
in Thailand. |
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3. |
The vision statement was developed at the First FNCA Coordinators Meeting
and adopted at the Forum Meeting as follows : "The FNCA is to be recognized
as an effective mechanism for enhancing socio-economic development through
active regional partnership in the peaceful and safe utilization of nuclear
technology." |
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4. |
The Meeting discussed the activity under the FNCA Framework and the Regional
Nuclear Cooperation Activities (RNCA) under the FNCA framework, and agreed
on the following points. |
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5. |
The Asian region is one of the regions which enjoys highest economic growth
rates in the world. To sustain such growth in the face of limited resources
and the need to protect and preserve the environment, the region can benefit
from effective utilization of nuclear technology. According to the projections(1)
(2) for expansion of nuclear power generation, the region is expected to
be one of the three major nuclear-generation centers along with the United
States and Europe early in the 21st Century. In addition to nuclear power
generation, nuclear applications in fields, such as food and agriculture,
human health care, improvement of industrial technology, and environmental
protection, are of equal importance in people's daily life. |
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6. |
In recognition of the above situation, regional cooperation to further
the safe and peaceful use of nuclear technology will be significantly advanced
by carrying out the Regional Nuclear Cooperation Activities (RNCA) currently
in seven fields,
- Utilization of Research Reactors,
- Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation for Agriculture,
- Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation for Medical Uses,
- Public Information on Nuclear Energy,
- Radioactive Waste Management,
- Nuclear Safety Culture, and
- Human Resources Development. |
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7. |
These activities to date have led to the establishment of effective infrastructure
for development and utilization of nuclear technology in the participating
countries. It is also expected that these activities would bring the FNCA
countries many socio-economic benefits and enhance public awareness of
the role, contribution and safety of nuclear technology and the way it
is benefiting national development. |
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8. |
Development and utilization of nuclear technology through the FNCA can,
in addition, help solve major issues which mankind faces in the 21st Century,
the so-called "Trilemma Issues" of economic growth; security
of resources, energy and food; and preservation of the global environment.
Therefore, it is beneficial to promote the further development of the RNCA
which can contribute to sustainable development through nuclear technology
applications. |
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Direction of Future Activities |
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9. |
The Meeting adopted the FNCA Strategic Plan. Officials from FNCA countries
will further cooperate to introduce and implement appropriate projects
in those fields where socio-economic benefits can be clearly expected,
and to make FNCA activities more efficient through better linkages with
the IAEA and other appropriate international organizations. In this regard
the initiatives listed in the Strategic Plan are welcomed. |
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10. |
The FNCA countries recognize that their contributions of manpower and finance
are important to strengthen and expand the FNCA activities. Each country
will try to establish a domestic system to support FNCA activities. |
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11. |
The nuclear accidents of the past two years such as the criticality accident
at the JCO nuclear fuel facility in Japan and the radiological accident
involving the spent Cobalt-60 source in Thailand should never occur again.
To achieve this goal, development and utilization of nuclear technology
in each country should be carried out with full attention to the safety
aspect. It is also important to use the experiences of these unfortunate
accidents as lessons in implementing the FNCA activities in the future. |
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12. |
The Meeting approved the following provisional venues of Workshops in FY2001:
- Utilization of Research Reactor: (China/Vietnam)
- Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation for Agriculture: Thailand
- Application of Radioisotopes and Radiation for Medical Use: Malaysia
- Public Information on Nuclear Energy: The Philippines
- Radioactive Waste Management: (Vietnam/Korea)
- Nuclear Safety Culture: Japan
- Human Resources Development : (Japan/Korea) |
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13. |
The Meeting agreed that the Second and the Third Meetings of the FNCA would
be held in Japan and Republic of Korea in 2001 and 2002, respectively. |
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References
(1) OECD/NEA-IAEA "Uranium"
(2) IEA "World Energy Outlook" |
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