Each year the delivery of the IAEA Annual Report to the General Assembly is a time for reflection, but today perhaps more than usual. The year 2005 marks 100 years since Albert Einstein's groundbreaking work began to unlock the secrets of the atom. It is the 60-year anniversary of the first and only uses of nuclear weapons, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And last year marked half a century since a nuclear power plant first supplied energy to the electricity grid in what is now the Russian Federation.
As I begin a new term in office at the IAEA, this is also a time for me to review our progress and renew our vision. Today I would like to highlight developments related to each part of the Agency´s mission - technology, safety and verification - and then to outline a few objectives for the future.
Nuclear Technology
Changes in Nuclear Power
Over the past few years, we have witnessed a considerable change in attitudes towards nuclear energy. Fast growing global energy demands, an increased emphasis on the security of energy supply, and the risk of climate change are driving a renewed consideration of nuclear power.
Near term nuclear growth remains centred in Asia and Eastern Europe, which together account for 22 of the 24 units now under construction. The Russian Federation intends to double its nuclear generating capacity by 2020; China plans nearly a six-fold expansion in capacity by the same date; and India anticipates a ten-fold increase by 2022. Elsewhere, plans remain more modest, but it is clear that nuclear energy is re-emerging in a way that few would have predicted just a few years ago.
Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
For a number of years, I have been advocating the consideration of multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle - to address challenges posed by proliferation sensitive operations, such as those related to uranium enrichment and plutonium separation.
Last year I informed you of my establishment of a group of senior experts to explore options for multilateral control of fuel cycle facilities. Their work has helped to shape an understanding of how such controls might be put in place.
Much attention is already being given to the first step - to provide the assurance of supply of nuclear fuel and technology at competitive market prices. By doing so, we would remove the incentive for countries to develop indigenous fuel cycle capabilities. Moreover, given the rising expectation for the expanded use of nuclear power in many countries, these multilateral approaches could offer additional advantages in terms of safety, security and economics.
Human Health
Cancer is a major global health concern, and the number of cancer cases is rising - most rapidly in developing countries. Access to life-saving radiotherapy is in many areas limited or non-existent. By way of comparison, consider that in Austria, where the IAEA is headquartered, we have approximately 1 radiotherapy machine for every 270 000 people; whereas for most African countries, the ratio is about 1 machine for every 10 million people, and some countries have no such facilities.
The Agency´s Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) is working to increase our capacity to assist developing Member States, by mobilizing more resources to address personnel, infrastructure, technology and training needs. Addressing the challenge of cancer is an intrinsically multidisciplinary effort; therefore, we are seeking to build partnerships with key organizations - such as the World Health Organization - for a coordinated, holistic approach.
Food and Agriculture
The use of isotopes and radiation in food and agricultural R&D continues to yield rich results. To give just one example: in Peru, harsh local environments, characterized by depleted saline soils and high altitudes, have traditionally caused many crops to fail. Through the use of radiation mutation to create new varieties of barley and rice, and the active involvement of Peruvian farmers in the breeding process, agricultural productivity and income have been increased.
Environmental Applications
Nuclear techniques are increasingly being used in environmental applications. The Agency´s Marine Environment Laboratory in Monaco has become a world leader in the use of radionuclides to track ocean currents - as well as in using isotopes to track carbon dioxide absorption in the ocean´s surface, a technique important to the study of climate change.
This year, the UN Development Programme funded the IAEA´s coordination of an extensive pollution survey of marine sediments from 35 shipwrecks sunk in Iraq´s waterways. The results will help to ensure that salvage operations can be conducted with minimal risk to either humans or the marine environment.
Nuclear Safety and Security
Recent years have also witnessed considerable evolution in nuclear safety and security. When I addressed this body just four years ago, I was urging greater participation in nuclear-related international conventions, promoting the benefits of all countries using IAEA safety standards, and calling for the creation of a Chernobyl Forum to set the record straight on the effects of the 1986 accident, and to improve the coordination of remediation efforts. And the IAEA General Conference - in the week following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the USA - had just issued a resolution calling for a sweeping review of the Agency´s nuclear security programme.
Since that time, we have made progress on multiple fronts.
Progress in Nuclear Safety
The Convention on Nuclear Safety has evolved into a forum for more substantive discussion on safety issues, incorporating feedback and lessons learned from the results of IAEA peer reviews.
I am also pleased to report that IAEA safety standards are receiving increasingly broad acceptance as the global reference for protecting people and the environment against nuclear accidents and harmful radiation exposure. The strong relationship between the Agency´s operational safety standards and its safety review services has been an important element in evaluating and enhancing their effectiveness. I would urge all countries to take full advantage of these services.
Chernobyl Forum
I am also pleased to note that just last month, a report on "Chernobyl´s Legacy" was issued, based on the extensive work of the Chernobyl Forum. The report is based on the best scientific analyses of the health, environmental and social impacts of the 1986 accident. This work reflected the consensus achieved among the relevant United Nations agencies and programmes and the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The organizations involved are also discussing cooperation on new initiatives to assist local populations with safe food production, improved health care, and regaining control over their own livelihoods.
Nuclear Security Conventions and Related Security Council Resolution
The International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, adopted by the General Assembly in April, requires States Parties to criminalize the unlawful possession and use of radioactive material and the unlawful use or damage of nuclear facilities. Security Council resolution 1540, adopted last year, calls on countries to develop and maintain effective physical protection and border controls, and to use law enforcement efforts to detect and combat illicit trafficking. And in July, parties to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material agreed on major changes that would make it legally binding for countries to protect nuclear facilities and material in peaceful domestic use, storage and transport.
I urge all States to implement promptly and fully the provisions of these Conventions and resolution 1540. The IAEA stands ready to offer assistance to all States in this regard, by providing legal and technical advice, training and peer reviews.
Nuclear Security and Protection Against Nuclear Terrorism
Few areas of IAEA activity have undergone so major an expansion, in so short a period, as our nuclear security programme over the past four years. The events of September 2001 were followed rapidly by the development of a comprehensive nuclear security plan. A Nuclear Security Fund was established, to which our Member States immediately and generously began contributing.
In the intervening four years, the Agency has conducted more than 100 nuclear security field missions. Approximately 1500 individuals from all regions have received IAEA training in measures related to preventing nuclear and radiological terrorism. The results are tangible: strengthened physical protection at nuclear facilities; recovery and enhanced security for hundreds of high intensity radioactive sources; increased security awareness among responsible national officials; better cooperation among international law enforcement organizations; enhanced detection capabilities at border crossings; and improved preparedness for responding to incidents.
Nuclear Verification
In the area of nuclear verification, as with other areas of Agency activity, times have changed in recent years. We have clearly made progress on some fronts, but perhaps regressed on others. The Agency´s resumption of inspections in Iraq in 2002, the subsequent termination of inspections in the DPRK, our more recent investigation of clandestine nuclear programmes in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the discovery of illicit nuclear procurement networks and the lack of agreement at the 2005 NPT Review Conference have put the spotlight on an unprecedented array of challenges to the non-proliferation and arms control regime.
The Agency´s verification system has shown great resourcefulness and resiliency in dealing with many of these challenges. We have rapidly initiated intensive verification efforts in a number of countries and investigated the illicit procurement network. We have strengthened the verification system through enhanced use of satellite imagery, environmental sampling and a variety of new technologies.
As part of strengthening the safeguards system, we have begun applying "integrated safeguards" - a more effective approach that combines traditional safeguards with more advanced methods of analysis and the enhanced access under the additional protocol. We are now applying integrated safeguards in multiple countries, including Japan and Canada, the two largest nuclear programmes under safeguards. We have also adjusted our policy on "small quantities protocols", to ensure more effective verification in all countries with comprehensive safeguards agreements. And we have established a Committee on Safeguards to examine additional ways and means to strengthen the system.
In dealing with all these verification challenges, we have maintained our objectivity and independence, and thereby strengthened our credibility. In short, the past few years have continued to underscore the central importance of the Agency´s role in combating proliferation.
Technical Cooperation Programme
The IAEA´s technical cooperation (TC) programme continues to be a principal mechanism for implementing our basic mission - "Atoms for Peace" - supporting activities related to a host of nuclear technology applications, as well as safety, security and safeguards activities. We have greatly increased the effectiveness of the TC programme in recent years, by shifting from a technology driven to a needs driven approach, focused on achieving tangible socio-economic benefits in Member States. The current TC Strategy highlights three elements essential for successful delivery of the TC programme: strong government commitment, high quality of TC projects and adequate funding.
Public Outreach and Public Awareness
When I began my second term of office in 2001, I called for increased public outreach to explain the IAEA´s contributions in all areas of our work. Little did I realize, at that time, the degree of public exposure we were to receive.
In the four intervening years, the Agency´s public image has been transformed - in large part due to emergent non-proliferation issues, but also due to our own successful efforts to raise public awareness of the important work of the Agency. We have substantially stepped up our Internet presence. We have revitalized our public seminar programme. And we have conducted a series of media campaigns on important topics, including nuclear security, radiotherapy, nuclear power and - earlier this month - the Chernobyl Forum report. The results of these efforts have been significant. The IAEA has moved in the public domain from being a relatively unknown agency to a trusted institution that plays a crucial role in both security and development.
Ideas For The Future
This rapid overview summarizes the many changes that have occurred in nearly every area of our activities in recent years. It also shows the ability of the IAEA to anticipate and respond to change. As we look to the future, we will continue to seek to meet Member State needs and priorities, through both our technical cooperation and regular budget programmes. I would like here to outline some key points for the next four years.
Nuclear Power
In the area of nuclear power, I would hope that we would focus more explicitly on the need of "energy for development". I was personally reminded of the current global energy imbalance on a recent trip to Nigeria, where per capita electricity consumption is only about 70 kilowatt-hours per year. That contrasts sharply with, for example, the OECD average of 8000 kilowatt-hours per year. This energy shortage in developing countries is a basic impediment to development.
The IAEA´s energy assessment services build a State´s capability for energy analysis and energy planning, taking into account the country’s economic, environmental and social development needs. These services treat all energy supply options equally. They are in increasingly high demand, and we hope to expand our capacity to offer them.
The future of nuclear power in the decades to come will in part be a function of technological innovation - the development of new reactor and fuel cycle technologies - to address nuclear safety, proliferation, waste generation and economic considerations. Many countries are collaborating on innovative nuclear R&D for the longer term. The IAEA International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) works to ensure that the future needs of all countries, including developing countries, are considered when innovative nuclear systems are evaluated.
Nuclear Applications
A key feature of modern science is its synergy - the way, for example, in which advances in fields such as nanotechnology, bioengineering and information technology build on each other to achieve greater progress. With that in mind, we will continue to seek out new applications in which nuclear technology can offer tangible benefits to society, in medical, agricultural, environmental and other fields.
To ensure that nuclear applications make the maximum positive impact, the IAEA will endeavor to forge more effective partnerships. This includes strategic relationships with other UN system organizations, international financial institutions and regional organizations and - above all - our Member States.
Nuclear Safety
The IAEA will continue to promote a global nuclear safety regime. This will include better harmonization of national regulatory approaches, to ensure at all times high quality, independent oversight for nuclear activities. It will also include efforts to improve our performance in fixing the "weak links" in the nuclear safety chain. Although significant efforts have been made over the past two decades to upgrade reactor safety features, with excellent results, facilities still exist at which nuclear safety assistance must be made a priority.
Nuclear Security
As I mentioned earlier, the Agency´s nuclear security assistance efforts to date have been focused, by necessity, on helping States identify and address vulnerabilities, upgrading physical protection and securing high priority radioactive sources. But as we continue to build a global nuclear security framework, it is important that we develop a clearer overall picture of remaining security vulnerabilities. For example, we need to improve our understanding of the patterns that characterize illicit trafficking activity, in order to provide Member States with the information needed to effectively combat such activity.
Nuclear Verification
In the area of nuclear verification, priorities for the coming years include: universalizing the additional protocol, so that its expanded rights of access apply equally in all States with comprehensive safeguards agreements; normalizing safeguards in Iraq; bringing the DPRK back to the NPT regime; providing the required assurances about Iran´s nuclear programme; and continuing to investigate the nature and extent of the illicit procurement network.
I would also urge the commencement of negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament on a treaty to ban the production of material for nuclear weapons - the so called Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty. It is essential that we take steps to eliminate both access to and production of material for nuclear weapons.
Clearly, much remains to be done. The lack of any agreement at the NPT Review Conference this past May was extremely disappointing, given the urgent and serious challenges we face. In the same vein, it was also disturbing that no agreement had been reached on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament at the World Summit last month.
The current challenges to international peace and security, including those related to nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear arms control, cannot be wished away. It is urgent and indispensable that we continue to build a global security system that is equitable, inclusive and effective.
Conclusion
The staff and management of the IAEA continue to do their utmost to make the Agency effective and efficient in carrying out its mission. But in all its areas of activity, the IAEA also remains dependent on your commitment and partnership. I look forward to continuing that partnership in the years to come.
Let me conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation to the Government of Austria, which continues to be a most gracious host to the IAEA.