'Too weak'

Germany has expressed disappointment with a watered-down plan passed by members of the International Atomic Energy Agency that aims to boost international nuclear safety standards in response to the Fukushima disaster in Japan.

The plan, approved by the agency's board on Tuesday, includes a series of measures such as peer reviews and IAEA safety checks designed to prevent another accident at one of the world's roughly 430 nuclear reactors. Such checks, however, can only be carried out "upon request" of the nations involved.

Germany's chief IAEA representative expressed concern that the voluntary nature of the provisions and the vagueness of the plan did not go far enough to ensure nuclear safety at the global level.

"It is a matter of regret that the draft now before us does not fully meet our expectations," Rüdiger Lüdeking, the German envoy, told a meeting of the IAEA's 35-member board on Monday.

"The IAEA and all its member states have to live up to their joint responsibility to ensure that nuclear technology is as safe as humanely possible," he said.

Germany took a particularly aggressive stance against nuclear energy in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in March, passing legislation to phase out the country's nuclear plants by 2022.

'Step forward'

Despite the criticism, all 35 countries on the IAEA board of governors voted in favor of the safety plan.

Major nuclear powers such as China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the United States supported the version of the plan and believe nuclear safety regulation should be left to national governments.

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, meanwhile, said the plan would lead to better safety standards.

"Adoption of the action plan is a significant step forward," Amano said. "This action plan is a good one."

Amano went on to say that an explosion at a nuclear waste treatment facility in southern France on Monday demonstrates the need to take action on nuclear safety.

Author: Spencer Kimball (AP, Reuters)
Editor: Martin Kuebler