Annual Meeting of the IAEA International Forum on Regulatory Supervision of Legacy Sites （RSLS）（9–13 March）

Date: March 13, 2026

1. Overview

○ The IAEA International Forum on Regulatory Supervision of Legacy Sites （RSLS） was established in 2010 with the aim of promoting effective and efficient regulatory supervision for the management of legacy sites, including areas affected by nuclear power plants accidents and abandoned uranium mining sites after their operation, in a manner consistent with the IAEA Safety Standards and good international practices.

○ During the dedicated Fukushima session in the RSLS Annual Meeting （9–13 March）, on 11 March 2026, marking the 15th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan’s off-site remediation efforts—including decontamination, the Interim Storage Facility, and the managed recycling of removed soil—were shared with IAEA Member States.

○ A total of 22 participants （including senior officials from regulatory bodies） from 18 countries attended the meeting*

2. Fukushima Session – 15 Year effort on off-site remediation in Japan

○ Presentations: （1） Monitoring and Decontamination at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station（IAEA）, （2） IAEA Assistance to the Ministry of the Environment, Japan （MOEJ）（IAEA）, （3） MOEJ’s Environmental Restoration Initiatives （MOEJ）

○ Panel Discussion: [Fukushima Session - 15 Years and to the Future]

• Moderator: IAEA, 4 panelists （Japan, United States, IAEA （2））
• Active communication and interaction between participants took place for the progress and achievements presented by MOEJ, as well as during the panel discussion. Questions from the participants included the outlook beyond the fifth year of the Roadmap, the process for formulating decontamination strategies, and the approaches for selecting Temporary Storage Sites.
• Before the session began, a moment of silence was observed to express condolences to the victims.

3. Others

○ Participating countries presented on a variety of topics, such as the overview on the situation, impacts and challenges following the former nuclear test （Algeria）, a general introduction of regulatory requirements for sites with residual radioactivity （China）, and management of NORM inventory （Portugal）.

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