DIRECTOR-GENERAL TELLS ASSEMBLY OF EVER-WIDENING ROLE OF I"A IN VERIFYING NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS

Press Release
GA/9143

DIRECTOR-GENERAL TELLS ASSEMBLY OF EVER-WIDENING ROLE OF IAEA IN VERIFYING NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS

Debate Begins on Agency's 1995 Report; Speakers Voice Concern Over Nuclear Activities of Iraq, Democratic People's Republic of Korea

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had an ever-growing role in the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons and in verifying nuclear arms control and disarmament agreements, the Director-General, Hans Blix, told the General Assembly this morning in presenting the IAEA's report for 1995. He said the Agency had also undertaken new responsibilities in the safe development nuclear energy worldwide.

He noted that the increasing number of regional nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties and the longstanding multilateral Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) all required and relied upon IAEA safeguards. Although the recently adopted Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) would have its own verification organization, the IAEA continued to have a role under that treaty.

Canada introduced a draft resolution by which the Assembly would affirm its confidence in the role of the Agency and urge all States to strive for effective and harmonious international cooperation in carrying out the work of the Agency, pursuant to its statute. It would commend the Director-General and the Agency itself for their continuing, impartial efforts to implement the safeguards agreement still in force between the Agency and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It would also commend the Director-General and the Agency for their strenuous efforts in the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.

Amendments to the draft resolution were introduced by Egypt and Israel. The first, introduced by Egypt, would have the Assembly note the request to invite experts from the Middle East and other areas to a technical workshop on safeguards, verification technologies and related experience. The second amendment, introduced by Israel, related to the IAEA Board of Governors.

The representative for the United States said Iraq continued to deliberately withhold information from the IAEA regarding its nuclear weapons programme. The United States supported the IAEA's comprehensive on-site monitoring and verification system which was intended to thwart the rebuilding of Iraq's nuclear weapons programme.

The representative for Tunisia said the implementation of the Agency's safeguards system, also known as the 93+2 programme, should take into account the need for balance between the new obligations of States in that regard and their sovereignty. New measures referred to by the Director-General should not entail additional costs for Member States, he said.

The representative for Ireland, speaking for the European Union and associated States, said that the Union was concerned that the IAEA was being hindered in its attempts to carry out its assigned task of verifying the correctness and completeness of the initial declaration of nuclear material by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Delays might have a critical effect on the Agency's ability to conclude that there had been no diversion of nuclear material in that country.

The representative for Iran said that while his country supported the right of every Member State to be represented on the Board of Governors of the IAEA, a State desiring such a position must gain the consent of the other countries in the region.

Statements were also made by Belarus, Kuwait, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, Romania and Japan.

The Assembly will meet again tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., to consider the report of the Credentials Committee to continue its discussion of the report of the IAEA; and begin its consideration of the report of its Working Group on Security Council Reform.

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Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly meets this morning to consider the 1995 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Assembly also had before it a draft resolution (document A/51/L.9 and amendment A/51/L.10) on the subject, by which it would take note of the IAEA report, affirm its confidence in the role of the Agency in the application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and urge all States to strive for effective and harmonious international cooperation in carrying out the Agency's work, pursuant to its mandate.

This includes promoting the use of nuclear energy and the application of the necessary measures to strengthen further the safety of nuclear installations and to minimize risks to life, health and environment; strengthening technical assistance and cooperation for developing countries, and ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the safeguards system of the Agency.

By the same text, the Assembly would welcome the entry into force on 24 October the Convention on Nuclear Safety and appeal to all States to become parties to it, so that it obtains the widest possible adherence.

The draft is sponsored by Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

In its report, the IAEA states that during 1995 it continued efforts to strengthen its safeguard system. It also states that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is still not in full compliance with the safeguard agreements pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Also, the Agency had continued its efforts to clarify the nuclear capability achieved by Iraq in the period immediately preceding the Gulf War.

During 1995, according to the report, IAEA undertook a threefold approach towards strengthening its safeguards system: through a broader access to information, greater physical access and an optimization of its present system. Broader access to information includes provisions for the expansion of information from States, or regional systems, on the accounting and control of nuclear material as well as information on both present and planned nuclear activities. The taking of environmental samples and an

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improved analysis of information is listed among further measures. Greater physical access, the report indicates, was to be achieved through an increase of unannounced routine inspections. As for improvement in the present system, the report notes the introduction of new measurement and surveillance systems, and increased cooperation with States and regional systems of accounting and control of nuclear materials.

At the end of 1995, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was still not in full compliance with its safeguards agreement pursuant to the NPT Treaty, according to the report. The Government enabled the Agency to implement certain safeguard measures but not others. At the request of the United Nations Security Council, Agency inspectors had been present in the Nyongbyon area since May 1994 and had, since November 1994, monitored a "freeze" on the Democratic Republic's graphite moderated reactors and related facilities. Additionally, agreement was reached in September to enable Agency photographers to photograph the new process line and other areas of the reprocessing plant known as the Radiochemical Laboratory. At year's end, however, IAEA inspectors had not been able to carry out certain activities such as the monitoring of nuclear waste liquid at the Radiochemical Laboratory. An agreement was reached in September to do so, but operators in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea later raised new objections and imposed unacceptable conditions.

The Agency continued its monitoring and verification inspections in Iraq to confirm Iraq's compliance with Security Council resolutions. In August, the Agency received new information that a crash programme to produce a nuclear weapon using highly enriched uranium had been launched shortly after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The uranium had been contained in the safeguarded research reactor fuel stored at the nuclear centre in Tuwaitha. The programme was brought to a halt in air raids on Tuwaitha in January 1991, before any processing of the fuel could occur. But by this time the equipment needed to extract the uranium had been manufactured and installed in a hot cell facility at Tuwaitha. The report said that information was being analysed in order to reassess Iraq's practical capability to manufacture nuclear weapons. Two ad hoc inspections were made during 1995.

The report underlines the importance of the Review and Extension Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in May 1995 which, it said, meant a renewed, collective commitment by the States parties to the Treaty to the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy and the renunciation of nuclear weapons. Backing was given to the concept of an expanded Agency role in verification, and it was recommended that nuclear material released from military use be placed under Agency safeguards.

Last December, the United Nations had called upon African States to sign and ratify the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Treaty in Africa, also known as the "Pelindaba Treaty", as soon as possible. Consultations continued with the

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States of the Middle East on the possibility of establishing a nuclear-weapon- free zone in that region, to facilitate the early application of full Agency safeguards to all nuclear activities in the region.

The Agency also reassessed the radiological situation at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, still affected by the nuclear-weapons tests there in the 1940s and 1950s. It concluded that remedial measures were available. The Agency also reviewed an area in Kazakstan, where nuclear weapons had been tested for many years and concluded there was no cause for concern.

Broad agreement was achieved on the revision of the Vienna Convention on the question of nuclear liability, the report stated. At the thirteenth session of the Standing Committee on Liability for Nuclear Damage, a full text of amendments was adopted. In December, a group of legal and technical experts, meeting for the second time, had made good progress on the preparation of a convention on the safe management of radioactive waste. Also, a Contact Expert Group was established for cooperation between the Russian Federation and other States in nuclear waste management. It had met for the first time in Stockholm.

Agency work on the assessment of the safety of nuclear power plants in eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union made steady progress during the year, providing critical input into bilateral and multilateral assistance projects. An IAEA mission to Armenia pointed to a difficult situation in the Medzamor Unit 2 reactor, and stressed the need to resolve safety issues before the proposed restart of the plant.

The report also said that international consensus on sustainable development and nuclear energy would take time; in that context, the Agency continued to cooperate with other international entities. It was noted that a potential application of nuclear power that received particular attention was related to the problem of potable water, and the feasibility of nuclear power plants for desalination.

The Agency continues its task of assisting in the transfer of relevant technologies in its Technical Cooperation Programme, with emphasis on techniques which contribute to sustainable development. Also cited in the IAEA report are the joint programmes with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) on modern biotechnology, and with the World Health Organization (WHO), on projects involving the use of isotope techniques to monitor nutritional intervention programmes.

During 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Agency, bringing the total membership to 123. In 1995, the regular budget appropriation for Agency programmes was approximately $251 million; total new resources, amounting to around $64 million, were available for technical cooperation activities.

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Extrabudgetary funds, apart from those directed to technical co-operation and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), were at a level of about $32 million.

The report states finally that without the extrabudgetary contributions from a number of governments, the Agency could not have managed, as it has during the last 10 years, to deliver an expanding programme and respond to the needs of Member States.

Statement by Director-General of IAEA

HANS BLIX, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, presenting the Agency's annual report for 1995, recalled that radioactivity had been discovered by a French professor, Henri Becquerel, 100 years ago and noted that it was 10 years after the dropping of two nuclear bombs on Japan at the end of the Second World War that the peaceful potential of nuclear energy came to the fore, at the first international conference on the peaceful uses of atomic energy in Geneva. Since then, he said, there had been some 2,000 nuclear-weapons tests and a nuclear armaments race, but there had also been rapid development and deployment of the beneficial uses of nuclear energy.

The IAEA had served Member States by helping to compile relevant data, to disseminate knowledge about peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to draft common radiation protection and other safety standards. It also had the responsibility to verify that nuclear material under international safeguards was used only for peaceful purposes. He said that by mentioning Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Iraq, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Semipalatinsk and Mururoa, it was possible to evoke the growing engagement of the Agency in the fields of nuclear safety, safeguards verification and the assessment of the radiological situation at nuclear-weapons test sites.

The Director-General said budgetary constraints had limited the tasks that could be undertaken. A number of arms control or disarmament treaties had been concluded, or were in the making, that might require additional verification tasks from the IAEA. The United States and the Russian Federation were exploring with IAEA technical and other issues connected to the further verification of certain nuclear material from dismantled nuclear weapons. He said certain tasks, such as measures against illicit trafficking in nuclear materials, or in the areas of nuclear safety and waste, were largely handled on the basis of extrabudgetary voluntary contributions.

He noted the increasing number of regional nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties which, like the longstanding NPT, required and relied upon IAEA safeguards. Although the new Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) would have its own verification organization, the IAEA continued to have a role under that Treaty.

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On environmental issues, he referred to the risk of global warming, and said that although most governments were aware that greater use of nuclear power and renewable resources could help restrain greenhouse gas emissions, most countries were still expanding their use of fossil fuels and falling short of their carbon emission targets. There was a "regrettable gap between the rhetoric of restraint and the reality of growing greenhouse gas emissions", he noted.

He said countries were committing themselves to an international nuclear safety culture, and cited the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which entered into force on 24 October. Three new legal instruments, regarding radioactive waste, civil liability for nuclear damage and funding for nuclear liability, were expected to be finalized over the coming year.

In the field of technical cooperation for development, the Director- General noted several IAEA-supported projects in Africa that were helping countries develop and manage their water resources, in some cases using nuclear- and radiation-related techniques for various development purposes, including eradicating insect pests and tapping underground water resources.

He said the IAEA, as part of its ongoing monitoring and verification in Iraq under terms of the United Nations Security Council resolutions, was now assessing Iraq's reissued "full, final and complete declaration" of its former nuclear-weapons programme. Since August 1994, more than 600 inspections had been carried out in Iraq, most of them without prior notice.

He said existing verification agreements with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea gave confidence that nuclear installation subjected to a freeze under the Agreed Framework between the United States and the People's Republic were actually frozen. Questions remained, however, about the completeness of that country's initial declaration of nuclear activities. The IAEA's access to information and sites remained insufficient for a comprehensive picture. More information, and full implementation of the safeguards agreement of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with the Agency, would bring about greater confidence in respect of the country's compliance with its non-proliferation commitments.

Statements

ROBERT R. FOWLER (Canada) introduced the draft resolution on IAEA (document A/51/L.9). He said it attempted to maintain the equilibrium between the so-called three pillars of the IAEA -- technical cooperation, safeguards and nuclear safety. This year's draft text reflected the expansion of the Agency's technical cooperation activities relating to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. There was also a new reference to the Agency's technical cooperation activities to contribute to the sustainable development of developing countries. As the co-sponsors had worked with all members in

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Vienna and New York to develop a text which could attract the widest number of supporters, he hoped that the draft resolution would be adopted with the broadest possible support.

MAGED ABDELAZIZ (Egypt), introduced an amendment to the draft (document A/51/L.10) by which the Assembly would note the statement by the President of the IAEA General Conference, and accepted by the Conference in September, which requested the Director-General to invite experts from the Middle East and other areas to a technical workshop on safeguards, verification technologies and related experience. He said that in the view of the urgent need for extensive IAEA efforts, particularly in the Middle East, the request of the Directory-General should be noted by the Assembly. He called for the amendment to be adopted by consensus, thus enabling preservation of the longstanding tradition of adopting drafts by consensus.

He said Israel had claimed that the statement made by the President to the Conference had been linked to another statement concerning the composition of the IAEA Regional Groups, but in fact the two statements were totally separate. There was no such linkage of the two issues, he added. The location of Israel within any regional group was a matter between Israel and the members of that group. It could not be packaged with a sensitive and important issue like the future of the Middle East as a whole. It could be settled only through consultations with member States. YEHIEL YATIV (Israel) introduced another amendment to the IAEA draft resolution (document A/51/L.12) by which the Assembly would note the above- mentioned statement by the President, accepted by the General Conference of the IAEA within the context of the agenda item on an amendment of the IAEA statute concern composition of the Agency's Board of Governors. He said his amendment would have the Assembly note that the Chairman of the Board of Governors had been requested to consult with member States and report, for consideration by the General Conference, specific proposals to include each member State within the Conference in September 1997. At the IAEA Conference, two statements of its President had been adopted as a package -- one on workshops for Middle East experts and other interested parties; another on the composition of regional groups within the context of amendment of the IAEA statute on the composition of the IAEA Board of Governors. The Israel amendment dealt with the second statement, and was intended to maintain a balance in the draft resolution. KARL F. INDERFURTH (United States) said improvements to IAEA's ability to detect diversion of nuclear material from declared facilities and to provide credible assurance of the absence of undeclared activities was necessary. The goal of reinforcing the non-proliferation regime under the NPT also depended on reinforcement of the IAEA safeguards system. Bearing those matters in mind, the United States supported efforts by the IAEA to strengthen its safeguards mandate. The United States also commended IAEA efforts to

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monitor the freeze of nuclear activities and to implement safeguards in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. No progress under the Agreed Framework between the United States and that country would have been made without the involvement of the Agency.

Turning to the situation in Iraq, he said the United States believed that Iraq continued to deliberately withhold information from the IAEA regarding its nuclear-weapons programme. The language in operative paragraph seven of the draft resolution on Iraqi compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions did not accurately reflect the current situation. The IAEA had noted in its most recent semi-annual report to the Security Council that it believed Iraq still retained a complete record of its nuclear programme, but Iraq continued to withhold relevant information. The United States supported IAEA's comprehensive on-site monitoring and verification system which was intended to thwart the rebuilding of Iraq's nuclear-weapons programme, he said. The United States again called upon Iraq to fully honour the commitments it accepted under Council resolutions and to provide immediately all information and equipment relating to weapons of mass destruction programmes. There could be no consideration of modifying the sanctions regime placed on Iraq until it complied fully with Security Council resolutions. The United States commended the IAEA for expanding its activities in the field of nuclear safety. It also supported the IAEA effort to enhance technical cooperation activities. JOHN H.F. CAMPBELL (Ireland) speaking for the European Union and for Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, expressed concern that the IAEA was being hindered in its attempts to carry out its assigned task of verifying the correctness and completeness of the initial declaration of nuclear material by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Delays might have a critical effect on the Agency's ability to conclude that there had been no diversion of nuclear material in that country. On the situation with regard to Iraq, he said there was no indication of a need to change the IAEA assessment that Iraq's practical capability to manufacture nuclear weapons had been destroyed, removed or rendered harmless. In light of Iraq's failure in the past to comply with Council resolutions, the European Union urged the IAEA to continue to exercise vigilance in that matter. The Union was concerned at Iraq's failure in July to provide immediate access to the Agency's team and its pervious practice of withholding information from the Agency. He welcomed the adoption of the CTBT and the development of nuclear- weapons-free zones. The European Union strongly supported the improvement of the safeguards system, since the risk of detection was a major deterrent to potential proliferators. In relation to illicit trafficking, the Union welcomed the programme for preventing and combating illicit trafficking in nuclear material agreed to in April. He called on Governments to implement

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that programme. Physical protection of nuclear material was one key element in the fight against illicit trafficking. The Union also called upon all States to place their nuclear material under an effective protection system and to become party to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material.

Technical cooperation was the area of IAEA activities of most direct relevance to many Agency members, he said. The European Union contribution to IAEA cooperation activities reflected the importance targeted assistance could make to economic and social development. Radioactive waste management was of increasing importance to the public perception of nuclear safety. The elaboration was well under way of a draft international convention which would obligate countries to manage their waste so as to avoid risk to the public and the environment. He hoped such a convention could be concluded in 1997.

SYARGEI SYARGEEU (Belarus) said he valued the efforts of the IAEA towards establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones. He noted that with the Pelindaba Treaty in Africa, the entire southern hemisphere had become nuclear- weapon free. Belarus believed in this ideal, and was working with other nations towards it. He also supported the Agency's efforts towards the safeguards system, and pointed out that Belarus had begun a system for verification and control of nuclear material.

Recalling the nuclear accident at Chernobyl ten years ago, he said Belarus was grateful for the conferences on the subject that had been held in a number of countries. New ecological issues had emerged, and there was need to continue research. He hoped the IAEA and the United Nations would pay attention to "international Chernobyl cooperation".

He said the IAEA played a special role in technical cooperation, and he said Belarus supported the Agency's initiative to help several countries. Belarus was counting on IAEA support, as well as that of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others, in its own continuing efforts.

MOHAMMAD A. ABULHASAN (Kuwait) said he realized the dangers of nuclear weapons for this generation and future generations unless nuclear energy was "rationally" employed. Its peaceful use would dissipate anxiety and apprehension as a result of negative uses and their radioactive consequences. Kuwait was watching the progress being made on the CTBT. It had been one of the first countries to sign the Treaty, and he hoped it would come into force very soon. Kuwait also attached great importance to the work of the IAEA and supported enhancing the system and closing the loopholes.

He hoped for the day when the Middle East would also become a nuclear- weapon-free zone. He said Israel's position on this was a major obstacle; the IAEA should continue its efforts with countries of the region to ensure that it would become nuclear-weapon free. He called on the Agency also to continue

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its efforts with respect to Iraq, to stop it from developing nuclear capabilities not designed for peaceful purposes. He expressed "full support" for the special committee working to ensure that Iraq's stockpiles were completely eliminated.

KAREL KOVANDA (Czech Republic) described the recent entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety as a "cornerstone event", towards reaching the highest possible safety of nuclear power plants all over the world. Czech experts had participated in preparing the text. He said the conclusion of the Convention on Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was a priority for the Czech Republic. He welcomed the establishment of the IAEA Database of incidents on illicit trafficking in nuclear material and other radiation resources, saying it would assist in identifying suppliers and potential recipients and in combating illegal cross-border transfers.

He said that the present system of safeguards did not enable the Agency to detect possible clandestine and undeclared nuclear activities, and needed to be modified and strengthened. His country was committed to the drafting committee on the protocol supplementary to the safeguards agreements, and would make every effort to contribute to the earliest possible finalization of the text. He acknowledged the importance for many States of the IAEA technical assistance and cooperation programmes.

Noting that the IAEA remained unable to verify the initial declaration of nuclear material by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, he appealed to that country for cooperation with the Agency. On Iraq, he said he supported the Agency's continuous efforts to investigate all aspects of its past nuclear weapons programme, and to analyze the documentation gained, and he called upon Iraq to cooperate with the Agency in resolving remaining inconsistencies.

SLAHEDDINE ABDELLAH (Tunisia) said that implementation of the IAEA safeguards system, also known as the 93+2 programme, should take into account the need for balance between the new obligations of States in that regard and their sovereignty. Also, the new measures should not entail additional costs for member States. Tunisia believed that the bulk of the cost of the new measures envisioned should be assumed by nuclear-weapon States.

He said that in the Middle East, Israeli nuclear capability was still outside the Agency's control, a fact which was a constant threat to other countries in the region. Tunisia called on Israel, as the only State in the region with nuclear capability, to accede to the NPT and place itself under the IAEA's safeguard system. He said this would create a denuclearized zone in the Middle East, which in turn would complement the denuclearized zone in Africa, since security in the two regions was inter-connected.

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He said there should be a better representation on the IAEA's Board of Governors, which should include more representatives from Africa and South Asia, to strengthen its credibility and universality.

ATANAS BALTOV (Bulgaria) said the conclusion of the CTBT, which already had 130 signatory States, was an achievement of truly historic proportions. Another important objective on the security agenda was the speedy conclusion by the Conference on Disarmament of the so-called "cut-off convention". Bulgaria urged the Conference to activate its ad hoc committee, mandated last year to negotiate a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material. An early start on negotiations was advisable.

He said he looked forward to the early implementation of the Convention on Nuclear Safety. The preparation of the Convention on Safety of Radioactive Waste was advancing well, and work on the revision of the Vienna Convention on Liability for Nuclear Damage should be completed in the not-too-distant future. Given the importance of the broadest possible participation in the future revised Vienna Convention, Bulgaria favoured the phased-in approach in regard to operators' civil liabilities as a major incentive to meet that objective.

MICHAEL POWLES (New Zealand) said the IAEA would have an important role in monitoring the CTBT, working closely with the provisional secretariat to be established in Vienna. Much could be learned from the IAEA. New Zealand commended the Agency for its support of the study of the radiological situation at the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls. The shipment of nuclear material through the South Pacific should be carried out in accordance with the highest international safety standards. New Zealand endorsed the Agency's intention to keep regulations under review to ensure that they remained abreast of scientific and technological development.

New Zealand strongly supported IAEA initiatives to strengthen its safeguard regime, he said. It was clear, however, that further complementary measures were needed to achieve a credible and effective system. The capability to detect undeclared nuclear activities was fundamental. He welcomed efforts to enhance existing safeguards agreements and urged the Agency and member States to make every effort to bring that process to a conclusion. Truly effective safeguards were an essential complement to the CTBT and would provide a foundation for further nuclear disarmament measures. The indefinite extension of the NPT had been a major advance. His country attached great importance to the NPT review process which would begin next year. The IAEA involvement in the review should not stop at developing enhanced safeguards, but should include examination of implementation of aspects of the Treaty.

D. FERNANDO PETRELLA (Argentina) said his country was completing the

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construction of its third nuclear reactor and was entering the final stage of development of a low-power reactor for generating electric power which could supply small cities. Argentina was prepared to share its technology, and it offered training to technical experts for IAEA member States.

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The economy of the Latin American and Caribbean region was linked to the success of regional efforts to develop nuclear energy, he continued. He supported the Latin American and Caribbean regional agreement currently striving to update and modernize the nuclear programmes. Within a regional framework, efforts to restrict the proliferation of nuclear weapons continued. In connection with strengthening the IAEA safeguards provisions, his Government had already begun to implement parts of those IAEA initiatives. With a view to ensuring that modernization was effective, the new safeguards system must be applied universally.

SERGIO GONZALEZ GALVEZ (Mexico) said his Government supported the IAEA in carrying out its important mandate, balancing security arrangements with technical cooperation efforts. He welcomed the establishment of nuclear- weapon-free zones in South-East Asia and in Africa. He also welcomed the strengthening of the IAEA safeguards system, including the drafting of a protocol which discussed the need for greater access to information. Four days ago, Mexico had reiterated its commitment to the objectives of the IAEA. The management of radioactive waste must be promoted. An international convention to that end should receive support from all States. He supported efforts to strengthen the Agency's ability to detect non-declared nuclear material. So that all States could benefit from the application of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to development, the IAEA should step up technical cooperation efforts.

DUMITRU MAZILU (Romania) said his country was committed to the peaceful use of atomic energy and the promotion of a nuclear non-proliferation regime. It had inaugurated, as of April 1996, the first unit of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant. The nation was aware of its "huge responsibility" regarding the safe functioning of the plant, and had taken steps towards that end. He welcomed the initiative by the IAEA to strengthen the technical cooperation programme, and to make it more relevant to sustainable development.

He said Romania supported the Agency's measures to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime, within the context of the indefinite extension of the NPT. It also supported measures by the IAEA to improve the safe running of nuclear plants and the storing of radioactive waste. The tenth anniversary of the tragic accident at Chernobyl provided an opportune moment for the IAEA to review the consequences of the accident and the lessons that had been learned.

He said he welcomed steps taken by the European Union for the strengthening of regulatory regimes, including the establishment of the Nuclear Safety account. While primary responsibility for nuclear safety rested with national governments, he said he welcomed the initiatives of the IAEA to strengthen cooperation and mutual assistance. The Convention on Nuclear Safety was a major accomplishment of the Agency, and he hoped that as many countries as possible would ratify it soon.

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MASAKI KONISHI (Japan) welcomed the adoption of the CTBT as a historic step towards disarmament, and hoped that the IAEA would assist the Treaty Organization, to be located in Vienna. He said that progress had been achieved based on the Agreed Framework between the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and called on the People's Republic to adhere to it, and to implement the safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

Experiences of the Agency illustrated the need to further strengthen its safeguards system, he said, but it was particularly important that it improve its ability to detect undeclared nuclear development activities. Japan supported the "Programme 93+2" which sought to formulate measures to strengthen the effectiveness and improve the efficiency of the safeguards system. On nuclear safety, he said he hoped the entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety would ensure a high level of safety in the use of nuclear power throughout the world, and he appealed to all States to become parties to it. Japan would continue to contribute to an early agreement in the ongoing discussions for a convention on the safety of radioactive waste management. Japan, he added, attached great importance to multilateral technical cooperation activities of the Agency, had contributed both human and financial resources to it, and would continue to help develop and improve skills and technology in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

MEHDI DANESH-YAZDI (Iran) said that as an original signatory to the NPT, Iran had always adhered to the Agency's safeguards; it had pursued an open and transparent policy in that respect and would continue to support the effectiveness of the safeguard system. There was not yet agreement on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, because of the unwillingness of some regional powers to join the NPT. Iran would spare no efforts to promote the establishment of such a zone in the Middle East. He said the continued operation of unsafeguarded and non-peaceful nuclear reactors in Israel was a source of grave concern to the international community, and the countries of the Middle East. As long as the powers behind Israel did not give up their double standard, the creation of such a zone in the Middle East would remain a distant goal.

On the classification of member States to regional groups, he said it was Iran's deep conviction that the grouping should be consistent with the continued work of the Agency. It should not be seen as a self-serving policy by some member States, acting without regard for the political realities of the regions. A State desiring a place on the Board of Governors of the IAEA must gain the consent of other countries in the region. Furthermore, the member States of each region should be the final decision makers in permitting any new member into their group.

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