9th March 2012 - On the eve of the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that over 20,000 people killed in eastern Japan, the United Nations officials hailed the recovery of the country and highlighted the progress made in improving nuclear safety."A few days ago, the UN experts said that Japan has made tremendous progress," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at a rally in New York on Thursday evening, organized by the Mission of Japan to the United Nations on the occasion of the birthday " . in Sendai alone, they treat 460 tons of waste per day. Across the region, they can be recycled. Old scrap is used in new buildings. This is very encouraging.
Ban also expressed admiration for the efforts of the Japanese population to overcome the disaster and stressed that the UN will continue to focus on ways to improve measures to prevent and respond to natural disasters such as work size.
In addition to the extensive destruction to a part of the coast of Japan on 11 March last year, the tsunami and the station in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture criticized, leading to collapse disabling tri-generation systems in three of six units. The accident shook the nuclear industry, regulators and governments, and weaknesses in the design and various omissions in the power plant were later discovered to have reduced the damage.
In his remarks, Ban Ki-moon, that since the accident, he, in order to raise the profile of nuclear safety and security on the international agenda, asked to help prevent future nuclear accidents password.
"In the weeks after the accident to investigate, I brought together experts from across the UN, what happened and make recommendations for the world," he said, adding that the high level of nuclear safety and security, in September last year, was also a step toward real progress.
During this high-level meeting, members of the Atomic Energy Authority of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) unanimously adopted a plan to ensure that nuclear safety has established a blueprint for national and international measures to improve nuclear safety.
In Vienna, said the Director General of IAEA, Yukiya Amano, the international community had many lessons from the accident, which met each contributed to the strong nuclear safety, it was there one year.
"Daiichi Fukshima was a very serious accident, but we know what happened and we have a clear action plan to combat these causes - not only in Japan but all over the world," said Mr. Amano. He added that countries around the world are looking at the weak links in their own nuclear safety systems and take steps to strengthen it.
The Special Representative of the Secretary General for disaster risk reduction, Margareta Wahlström said the earthquake and tsunami has also helped to underline the importance of prevention measures in place,
"One of the great lessons of the great earthquake and tsunami-eastern Japan, which can be applied in many other disaster-prone countries, the absolute importance of preparing at-risk populations for the worst case scenario," said Ms. Wahlström said , given the key role that took place, the Japanese authorities and citizens about the disaster.
"Japan stands out when it comes to public awareness of the risks, evacuation drills and the people in a way that few other countries will mobilize emulate. We are instances in which school children have taken the initiative and escaped the tsunami, and helps young children to flee, "she said, adding that the death toll would have been much higher if people do not respond to early warnings.
"Let us not forget this great achievement when you consider all the other things that could have been better to do," said Ms. Wahlström.
