Challenges at IAEA General Conference

Notable strides are being made through global cooperation in fields of nuclear technology, safety, and verification, but more needs to be done to meet emerging challenges of the 21st century, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said today. Mr. ElBaradei reviewed nuclear developments from IAEA perspectives in a statement to the 44th regular session of the Agency’s General Conference, which is meeting in Vienna this week. The General Conference is being attended by senior governmental officials from the IAEA’s 130 Member States.

Mr. ElBaradei said the IAEA’s work directly supports the greatest challenges before the world. "Earlier this month, the Millennium Summit of the United Nations identified a number of major challenges humanity faces," he said. "High among them are the efforts of the international community to achieve ‘freedom from fear’ and ‘freedom from want’. The Agency’s three major functions -- as a catalyst for progress in nuclear technology; as an objective authority on nuclear safety; and as an instrument for the verification of nuclear non-proliferation --are inextricably intertwined with these efforts."

In this connection, Mr. ElBaradei signalled the IAEA’s readiness to provide its services as may be requested in response to global developments.

• Regarding nuclear power development, he said the Agency stands ready to support an initiative announced at the Millennium Summit by Russian Federation President Putin. The initiative calls for an international project under IAEA auspices to develop new technology that would generate nuclear power without requiring or producing weapons-grade material, and in parallel to focus on emerging technology to burn long-lived radioactive wastes from spent nuclear fuel and weapons stockpiles.
• Regarding the recent agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation about the management and disposition of plutonium from nuclear weapons programmes, he offered his readiness to discuss with these States how the IAEA could verify their commitments.
• Regarding the application of safeguards in the Middle East, he said the Agency would be willing to arrange a forum in which participants from the Middle East could learn from the experience of other regions with respect to comprehensive verification arrangements, and confidence-building measures that contribute to the establishment of a nuclear-weapons free zone.
• Regarding radioactive waste management, he said that the Agency intended to organize an international forum on nuclear waste with the participation of scientists, policy-makers, civil society, and the media, with a view to try building an international consensus on this important issue.

In reviewing global nuclear cooperation, the Director General cited sustained progress worldwide in applying nuclear technologies for social, economic, and environmental development, noting projects in areas of human health, food and water production, pollution control, nuclear electricity generation, and the comparative assessment of different energy sources. He also pointed to measures for further strengthening the global safety regime, including the preparation by experts of a Code of Conduct on the Safety of Radiation Sources and the Security of Radioactive Materials. The work is part of a comprehensive Action Plan approved by the IAEA General Conference in 1999, a plan which he said is making "progress on multiple fronts" to assist countries in establishing an adequate infrastructure for safety. The Director General also pointed to significant progress in strengthening the Agency’s safeguards measures, noting that the Safeguards Statement for 1999 included, for the first time, conclusions about the absence of undeclared nuclear material or activities in two States which have all required safeguards arrangements in force.

While singling out achievements, he underlined present and future challenges shaping the IAEA agenda. They include those related to:

• Agency verification activities in Iraq, where he said the Agency must resume inspections under UN Security Council resolutions, if it is to provide the enhanced assurances sought by the Council;
• Agency verification activities in the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), where he said that it could take three to four years to complete the verification of the information provided by the DPRK depending on the level of DPRK co-operation;
• Establishing an adequate safety regime for nuclear research reactors, more than half of which are over 35 years old and many of which have been shut down without being decommissioned;
• Achieving international consensus on safety standards for geological disposal of radioactive waste;
• Strengthening the national and international frameworks for the protection of nuclear and radioactive material;
• Attaining universal adherence to safeguards arrangements that strengthen the IAEA’s capabilities to detect both declared and undeclared nuclear material and activities. He noted that strengthening agreements called Additional Protocols have entered into force in twelve more countries over the past year, including States with substantial nuclear fuel cycle activities. Although this is welcome, he said, the total number of approved Protocols is far short of expectations and he urged States to conclude such agreements with the Agency. "Without the conclusion of the required safeguards agreement, the Agency cannot provide any assurance about compliance by States with their non-proliferation undertakings," he said. "And without the Additional Protocol, the Agency can only provide limited assurances that do not adequately cover the absence of undeclared material or activities."
• Using comparative assessments to determine where nuclear applications present the best solution.

Mr. ElBaradei also pointed to financial challenges before the Agency, which he said affect the management and delivery of programmes across the board. "In effect," he said, "the regular budget of the Agency is underfunded … It is imperative therefore that corrective action be initiated before long, in relation to the adequate level of regular budget funding, to ensure that our programmes can continue to be implemented with the expected effectiveness and efficiency."