| December 2, 2003 |
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Souichi Nagamatsu
Deputy Director General for Science and Technology Policy
Cabinet Office |
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| 1. |
The 4th Senior Officials Meeting was held on December 2, 2003 with the
participation of 17 senior officials from 9 FNCA countries. Major agenda
items were: |
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| a. |
Report on the Fourth FNCA Coordinators Meeting (CM) and Progress of FNCA
Activities |
| b. |
Management and Operation of FNCA Activities (New Activities) |
| c. |
Human Resources Development (HRD) Strategy for Nuclear Science, Technology
and Applications |
| d. |
Preliminary Talks on Round Table Discussion of Ministerial Level Meeting
(MM) |
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| 2. |
For agenda item (1), the conclusion of the 4th FNCA Coordinators Meeting
and the highlights of project achievements in 2003 and future plans were
reported by Dr. Machi, the FNCA Coordinator of Japan. The report (attachment-1)
was endorsed by the meeting. Remarkable and visible progress of projects
was commended by the meeting.
In the field of research reactor application, it was particularly noted
that the first demonstration plant of automatic loading of Mo-99 adsorbed
PZC will be installed in BATAN, Indonesia in Dec. 2003.
In the field of agriculture, development of drought tolerant mutant varieties
of soybean and sorghum are being successfully implemented through exchange
of mutant seeds between participating countries. For the project on Biofertilizer,
Viet Nam has demonstrated remarkable results in a field test for peanuts.
In the field of nuclear safety, the project on "Safety Culture of
Research Reactor" started a peer review activity with the Dalat reactor
of Viet Nam, providing useful comments. For management of the technologically
enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM), an expert
mission visited the relevant sites in Viet Nam and Malaysia in 2003 recommending
some points for improvement.
For the project on "Public Information for Nuclear Energy", two
Open Seminars were held in Viet Nam with 200 participants in conjunction
with a Project Leaders Meeting. The Regional Speakers Bureau (RSB) sent
one speaker each to Malaysia and Thailand for the large conferences.
In the project on "Electron Accelerator Application" the demonstration
of the thin film irradiation to produce wound dressings was conducted in
the MINT, Malaysia. |
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| 3. |
For agenda item (2) a project on "Application and Usage of Position
Emission Tomography (PET), Cyclotron and Radioisotope in Medicine "
was proposed by the Government of Malaysia (attachment-2), and a panel
on "Sustainable Development and Nuclear Energy in Asia" was proposed
by the Government of Japan (attachment-3). The former proposal was strongly
supported by all FNCA countries. The meeting endorsed the proposal and
suggested that the 5th Coordinators Meeting discuss a specific work plan
and other relevant technical issues. The second proposal was highly appreciated
by all FNCA countries including Australia, Malaysia and Thailand, which
presently have no plans to construct nuclear power plants. Since this proposal
had been approved by the 4th Coordinators Meeting in March 2003, it was
agreed that the first meeting of the panel will be held early in the FY
2004. |
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| 4. |
For agenda item (3), the SOM recognized that the HRD is most important
for sustainable development of nuclear science and technology. The Conclusions
and recommendations from the item were agreed as in attachment 4 to be
reported to the Ministerial Level Meeting on December 3, 2003. |
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| 5. |
For agenda item (4), preliminary presentations and exchange of views on
two specific topics for the Ministerial Level Round Table Discussion on
December 3 were made. |
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| 6. |
It was agreed that the 7th FNCA Meeting in 2006 would be held in Malaysia.
The Philippines offered to host the 9th FNCA Meeting in 2008. |
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