Nuke safety check launched worldwide
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered a review of Russia's nuclear power industry after hydrogen explosions rocked reactors of the quake-crippled Fukushima plant due to the failure of its cooling system.
Putin said at a meeting that he has requested the Energy Ministry, the Natural Resources Ministry, and the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) to "carry out an analysis of the current condition of the atomic sector and an analysis of the plans for future development."
"We should be ready to act under any scenario," Putin said, adding that the departments should submit their assessments to the government within a month.
Meanwhile, Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko said Russia's Far East region was not threatened by the nuclear accident in Japan.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday ordered a safety check of the country's nuclear reactors.
Lee sent Science Minister Lee Ju-ho to Gori, home to five nuclear reactors, to assess the country's preparedness for natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami.
South Korea operates 21 nuclear reactors, which supplies around 40 percent of its electricity.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday stressed safety in government plans on any future nuclear power stations.
"It is absolutely most important in our work from the very beginning that we guarantee the highest safety standards of any possible (nuclear) installations in Poland," Tusk said after meeting visiting EU President Herman Van Rompuy in Warsaw.
"Energy and energy diversification are very important things but obviously the safety of citizens will be the most important factor," Tusk said.
Nuclear energy authorities of Armenia on Tuesday assured the public that the country's nuclear power plant was operating normally.
Ashot Martirosyan, chief of the Armenian state committee for nuclear security, said there was no need for additional safety control, as the emergency situation at the Fukushima plant made Armenia more careful and attentive to its own nuclear reactor.
The Armenian nuclear power plant, known as Metsamor, was built in 1976 some 30 km west of the country's capital Yerevan.
The Metsamor nuclear plant was closed down due to a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 1988, and was re-opened in 1993.
The plant produces 40 percent of Armenia's electricity.
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