APEC Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Disaster Prevention Initiative (draft)

II. Background1. The APEC Framework for Capacity Building Initiative onEmergency Preparedness was endorsed in 1998; in the same yearAustralia led the establishment of the APEC Virtual Task Force onEmergency Preparedness (VTFEP) as a communication platform. In 2005,the APEC Strategy on Response to and Preparedness for NaturalDisasters and Emergencies was passed, and VTFEP was transformed intothe Task Force on Emergency Preparedness (TFEP) under the frameworkof SOM to encourage capacity building of disaster management andrelevant international cooperation. In June 2010 TFEP was upgraded tothe Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG), a permanentworking group that is currently co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia.2. The Sydney APEC Leader’s Declaration of 2007 emphasized thatthe important role for low and zero emissions energy sources andtechnologies, and it stated that for those economies which choose to do so,the use of nuclear energy, in a manner ensuring nuclear safety, securityand non-proliferation in particular its safeguards, can also contribute.3. The Darwin Declaration of 2007 encouraged the development ofcleaner and more efficient power generation technologies, includingrenewables, clean coal, natural gas/LNG, and for interested economies,nuclear technologies; it also encouraged interested APEC economies tojoin the EWG Ad-hoc Group on Nuclear Technologies and to ensure thatthe safety, security, seismic, health and waste handling aspects, includingtrans-border effects, of civilian nuclear energy, are adequately addressed.4. The Fukui Declaration of 2010 expressed that.We therefore need to assess the emissions reduction potential ofnuclear power in APEC. Solid financial frameworks as well as4