Unic Press UK: The sixty-first regular session of the IAEA’s General Conference commenced today, Monday, 18 September 2017, at 10.00 a.m. in the M Building of the Vienna International Centre (VIC).
The provisional agenda for this year’s General Conference listed 27 items, including [but not limited to]:
- The Agency’s Programme and Budget 2018–2019
- Measures to strengthen international cooperation in nuclear, radiation, transport and waste safety Nuclear security
- Strengthening the Agency’s activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications 19. Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of Agency safeguards
- Implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement between the Agency and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
- Application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East
In his opening address today at the 61st General Conference in Vienna, the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, spoke to the delegates on a range of issues, viz:
Nuclear Power, Safety and Security
Amano said that nuclear power helps in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and in improving energy security. He welcomed the establishment of the IAEA LEU Bank Storage Facility in Kazakhstan in August 2017.
“The Agency supports countries that wish to introduce nuclear power, or to expand existing programmes… Establishment of the IAEA LEU Bank will provide a last-resort mechanism to give countries confidence that they will be able to meet their future needs for nuclear fuel,” he said.
The Director General informed the delegates that all IAEA nuclear safety requirements currently incorporate the lessons from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in 2011.
Iran
IAEA Director General told the delegates that the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by the Islamic Republic of Iran under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are being implemented.
North Korea
Amano expressed grave concern over the nuclear programme of North Korea (DPRK), demanding that the communist State complies fully with its obligations under all the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the IAEA.
The General Conference is an annual event, last year’s, which was the 60th General Conference, was held in the Vienna International Centre (VIC) in September 2016. This year’s is at the same venue from 18 – 22 September 2017.
