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IAEA Director General addresses UN General Assembly

1995/18

Addressing the 50th session of the United Nations General Assembly today in New York, Director General Hans Blix of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emphasized the importance of international efforts to secure the safe and peaceful development of nuclear energy. He specifically reviewed developments in areas of IAEA nuclear safeguards and verification; nuclear safety; nuclear power development; and technical co-operation.

Long a key component of the world's nuclear non-proliferation regime, the IAEA's safeguards system is being strengthened as part of international steps against the further spread of nuclear weapons, he noted. "Governments and the public now demand that the system should have the capacity to detect any secret, undeclared nuclear material and installations," Dr. Blix said, citing lessons from the Agency's ongoing nuclear inspections in Iraq under mandate of the UN Security Council. The stronger safeguards system now being developed, he said, focuses on a number of essential elements: increased access to information about a State's nuclear activities; broader access to sites and locations within a State; short-notice inspections; and the maximum use of new and available technologies to increase detection capacity.

He further pointed out that IAEA verification of States' compliance with their nuclear arms-control pledges is becoming an increasingly important factor in global security and nuclear disarmament. He noted the Agency's verification of nuclear material released from the military programmes of nuclear-weapon States. "These expanded efforts could require new arrangements to ensure that the released material would permanently remain under safeguards and that the financing of such verification is assured," he said. Possible new verification roles for the Agency additionally are emerging from other arms-control and disarmament initiatives, Dr. Blix said, including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty which States seek to conclude in 1996. Of relevance to note, he said, is that the IAEA already verifies such a ban in more than 170 States which have accepted comprehensive Agency safeguards on all their nuclear activities.

The Director General also addressed Agency efforts against illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. "It is clear that greater efforts are needed and that States must pay increased attention to the physical protection of all radioactive material, and especially weapons useable nuclear material, whether in use, transport, or storage," he said. While the States concerned carry the primary responsibility in combatting

illegal trafficking, Dr. Blix said that steps are being taken to improve international co-ordination of efforts. The Agency's actions, he noted, include establishing a database of trafficking incidents in support of factual analyses and technically assisting States in areas of nuclear material accountancy and control, and in physical protection methods and technology.

Also commanding greater attention are issues of nuclear and radiation safety, Dr. Blix said. Building on the IAEA's long-standing work in the field, States have developed binding international safety standards, he noted, notably in adopting the Convention on Nuclear Safety that is nearing entry into force, and in moving to finalize preparation of a Convention on Radioactive Waste Safety. "There is a clear manifestation of the increased interest of the international community that nuclear safety be at a high level everywhere," Dr. Blix said.

The Director General further called for an expansion of nuclear power for electricity generation as part of steps to meet the world's growing needs for environmentally clean and economically proven energy sources. He noted the Agency's co-operative work with seven international organizations for comparatively assessing the benefits and risks of different options for electricity production. "All sources and uses of energy have their risks," he said, "as indeed an absence of energy carries risks. Only an analysis of different options side by side can tell us which energy policy is economically and ecologically least burdensome."

In underlining the high interest of States, particularly developing countries, in peaceful nuclear applications, Dr. Blix reviewed initiatives the Agency is taking to strengthen its technical co-operation programme. Emphasis is being placed on nuclear techniques and targeted projects that will contribute to sustainable development, food production and preservation, the harnessing of fresh water resources, industrial applications, and the promotion of human health, he said.

Dr. Blix concluded by commending efforts to improve the effectiveness of global co-operation and the efficiency of intergovernmental organizations. "Effective action by organizations in the UN family is in many cases directly dependent on the degree of co-operation that can be achieved between States," he said. "There is also much action, however, that is undertaken mainly by the Secretariats. Here, effectiveness depends largely upon the availability of adequate and predictable resources, co-operation of States that may be affected, and last, but not least, the competence and skill of management and staff in the Secretariats. We stand or fall on the quality of our management and staff."

Copies of the Director General's address may be obtained from the IAEA Division of Public Information or through the IAEA's World Atom on line information services on the Internet/World Wide Web at the following address: http://www.iaea.or.at

Last update: 16 Feb 2018

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