Vienna, March 16: The head of the UN atomic watchdog said today he would fly to Japan this week to get first-hand information about the quake-damaged nuclear plants there and to see how best the IAEA can help.
"Hopefully, I will leave Vienna tomorrow (Thursday)and spend one night in Tokyo and then come back to Vienna,"Japanese-born Yukiya Amano told a daily press briefing at the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters.
Exactly who he would see and what sites he would visit in such a short period of time and at such short notice was not yet clear, said Amano."I would like to have some high-level contact," he said. "As a representative of an international organization like the IAEA, I think this will be of some use."
Given that the IAEA was the international body in charge of nuclear safety and has been working with Japan since the beginning of the disaster, Amano wanted face-to-face "contact with those people who are working there and who are tackling the accident to have first-hand information," he said.
It would also provide an opportunity to "explore further possibilities for coordination and cooperation and further improvement in communication," he said. (AFP)
