THE PRESS THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1986. Carrying on from Chernobyl

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 20

THE PRESS THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 1986. Carrying on from Chernobyl

The proposal made by the Soviet leader, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, for a legal order to be set up under which countries would offer help over nuclear accidents, looks thoroughly sensible. Presumably, such an agreement would become part of the International Atomic Energy Agency accords. When the board of governors of the I.A.E.A. meets later this week, the Chernobyl disaster will become the main item for discussion. The Soviet Union might well want medical aid, dwellings, and other help. What other countries are likely to insist on is that information about any accident be given far more promptly than the Soviet Union gave it over Chernobyl. The I.A.E.A. is an independent, intergovernmental organisation which is under the aegis of the United Nations. Its purpose, as defined by statute, is "to seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world.” It attempts to see that nuclear material used for civilian purposes does not find its way to military uses. In 1985, 112 countries were members of the agency. Much of the agency’s work is concerned with the supervision of transporting nuclear materials. Some of its work has been to inspect civilian nuclear power plants to ensure that they conform to safety standards and that the nuclear material does not find its way into unauthorised hands. Various countries, including Australia, which exports uranium, have their own standards

The Soviet Union is a member of the I.A.E.A. and some of its nuclear plants are open to inspection by the agency. Some of the

plants which have the same design as the one at Chernobyl are open for inspection, though the Chernobyl plant is not. It is widely assumed that this is because the nuclear material from it is put to military purposes.

New Zealand is a member of the I.A.E.A. and attends the agency’s general conference. New Zealand used to send the chairman of the New Zealand Atomic Energy Committee in alternate years; but the New Zealand Atomic Energy Committee was one of the quangos felled in the great quango hunt conducted by the Minister of Mr Palmer. New Zealand will be represented at this year’s general conference of the I.A.E.A. by an official from the New Zealand Embassy in Vienna.

What Chernobyl demonstrates with cruel clarity is that a disaster at a nuclear power plant is not merely a disaster for the country that owns the plant. The siting of nuclear power plants by one country close to the borders of another country is likely to be a continuing source of tension. The accident at Chernobyl was minor compared with the potential for such an accident. Yet even in handling a minor accident, the Soviet Union floundered in trying to cope. Mr Gorbachev is probably right that some sort of system needs to be organised to deal with disasters. The meeting of the board of governors of the I.A.E.A. and the general conference of the agency have before them a tragic example to give sharp point to their discussions. The Soviet Union has a great deal to offer the international community now if it will make available all the information it has at its disposal.