IRAQ'S REFUSAL OF ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL INSPECTION MAY INDICATE 'DESIRE TO CONCEAL SOMETHING', GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS TOLD

12 November 1997

Press Release
GA/9353

IRAQ'S REFUSAL OF ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL INSPECTION MAY INDICATE 'DESIRE TO CONCEAL SOMETHING', GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS TOLD

19971112 Concern Expressed as Debate Begins on International Atomic Energy Agency; Director-General Also Notes Environmental Benefits in Use of Nuclear Power

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was concerned that Iraq's refusal of access by the Agency and the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction "could be caused by a desire to conceal something", its Director General, Hans Blix, told the Assembly this morning as he presented the Agency's annual report.

Dr. Blix said the IAEA was deploying most of its monitoring and verification activities to prevent Iraq from using technology for nuclear weapons. However, it was not possible to guarantee that Iraq did not have some concealed components, activities and facilities. The media and the public should be aware that no inspection system could give a "clean bill of health", and governments must judge whether to take at face value any report indicating that no undeclared nuclear activity had been found.

On the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, he said the IAEA was not urging any country in that direction, but was working to make nuclear power a more attractive and economical energy source. The use of nuclear power was relevant in the context of the threat of global warming. With the development of an international nuclear safety culture, the real risks of nuclear power could be kept very low. Greater use of nuclear power in technologically advanced countries could substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The representative of Luxembourg, speaking on behalf of the European Union, called on all governments to implement the programme for preventing and combating illicit trafficking in nuclear material. All States that had not yet done so should place their nuclear material under an effective protection system.

He said the Union was concerned at the shortcomings in the implementation of the IAEA's agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the application of safeguards in the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The Union was also concerned

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that Iraq still had not provided the Action Team of the Agency with all the information it had requested and deplored Iraq's obstruction of aircraft used by the Agency in February. Iraq must cooperate fully with the Action Team and fulfil its obligation to hand over immediately to the team any nuclear-weapon- related equipment, material and information it may still possess. It must allow the Action Team immediate, unconditional and unrestricted rights of access in accordance with Security Council resolution 707.

The representative of the Republic of Korea said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea still refused to fully comply with the IAEA safeguards agreement, and there had been no progress in the IAEA's three-year effort to preserve the information relevant to its past nuclear activities. The issue would not be resolved until Pyongyang faithfully abided by its multilateral and bilateral non-proliferation commitments.

Statements were also made by Japan, Australia, India, Mexico, Russian Federation, Armenia, United States, Uruguay, New Zealand, Lithuania, Pakistan and Kuwait.

The Assembly meets again at 3 p.m. today to continue its consideration of the IAEA report and take action on a related draft resolution. It will also take up the Secretary-General's report on United Nations reform and vote on a related draft resolution.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to consider the annual report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a related draft resolution.

By the terms of the draft resolution (document A/51/L.13), the Assembly would urge all States to strive for effective and harmonious international cooperation in carrying out the Agency's work, pursuant to its statute, in promoting the use of nuclear energy and the application of necessary measures to strengthen further the safety of nuclear installations and to minimize risks to life, health and the environment, in strengthening technical assistance and cooperation for developing countries, and in ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency's safeguards system.

The draft wold commend the Agency and its Director-General for their efforts to implement Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.

The Assembly would note the progress concerning Iraq's Full, Final and Complete Declaration and further progress in the content of Iraq's six-monthly declarations under the Ongoing Monitoring and Verification Plan. The Assembly would note with concern, however, that Iraq had still not provided the Agency's Action Team with all the information it requested, and would deplore Iraq's obstruction of aircraft used by the Agency in 1997.

Further, the Assembly would call on Iraq to cooperate fully with the Action Team in meeting its requests for information and in achieving complete implementation of relevant Council resolutions and the Ongoing Monitoring and Verification Plan. It would stress again Iraq's obligation to hand over immediately to the Action Team any nuclear-weapon-related equipment, material and information it may still possess, and to allow the Action Team immediate, unconditional and unrestricted rights of access in accordance with resolution 707 (1991), and stress that the Team will continue to exercise its right under all relevant Council resolutions regarding further information that may come to light.

The draft would also commend the Agency for its efforts with regard to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as requested by the Security Council, and express concern at "continuing non-compliance" by that country on arrangements to monitor the freezing of specific facilities. It would urge the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to cooperate with the IAEA in verifying the accuracy of that country's report on the inventory of nuclear material which is subject to the safeguards agreement in force between itself and the Agency.

The Assembly would request the Secretary-General to transmit to the Director-General of the Agency the records of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly relating to the Agency's activities.

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The co-sponsors of the draft resolution are Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Micronesia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.

IAEA Report

According to its report, which is attached to a note by the Secretary- General (document A/52/285), the IAEA found that nuclear material and other items, declared and placed under its safeguards, remained in peaceful nuclear activities or were otherwise adequately accounted for. The Agency continued to strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of the safeguards system, including the capacity to detect undeclared nuclear material, facilities and equipment. As of 31 December 1996, 214 safeguards agreements were in force with 131 States and with Taiwan (Province of China), compared with 207 agreements with 125 States and Taiwan (Province of China) at the end of 1995.

The IAEA's safeguards obligations in Iraq continue under the mandate given it by the Security Council, the report says. The Agency is implementing its monitoring and verification of Iraq's compliance with relevant Council resolutions through the resident inspectors of the Nuclear Monitoring Group, with the assistance of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) set up under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) in connection with the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The implementation of the plan does not foreclose the Agency's exercise of its right to investigate further any aspects of Iraq's nuclear weapons programme, particularly information that Iraq might still be withholding from the Agency. The Iraqi counterpart has continued to cooperate with the agency in a productive way. During 1996, resident inspectors conducted 354 inspections at some 107 facilities, 34 for the first time, and detected no instances of activities, equipment or material proscribed in relevant Council resolutions.

On 7 September, Iraq submitted its final version of the "Full, Final, and Complete Declaration" called for in Security Council resolution 707 (1991). The Agency is undertaking an in-depth appraisal of the document to assess its correctness and completeness. The appraisal, which will take several months, will focus on those areas where Iraq's achievements may have been understated.

According to the report, the Agency is still unable to verify the correctness and completeness of the initial declaration of nuclear material

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made by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and, therefore, cannot conclude that there has been no diversion of nuclear material in the country. The safeguards agreement between the Agency and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea remains in force and the IAEA is continuing to implement safeguards measures in the country, including the monitoring of the "freeze" on its graphite-moderated reactors and related facilities. Its inspectors have been in the Nyongbyon area since May 1994.

In reviewing other areas of the IAEA's 1996 programme, the report notes progress in such important areas as the extension of the model project concept in technical cooperation. Further, it examines the introduction of measures to strengthen safeguards and the implementation of new procedures for preparing and reviewing safety standards. There were also advances in negotiating new legal instruments on nuclear safety, the safety of spent fuel and waste management, liability and safeguards.

The Agency will verify compliance with two new treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones in Africa and south-east Asia. The Pelindaba Treaty, signed in Cairo in April, goes further than other accords and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) by addressing such issues as prohibition against armed attack on nuclear installations and the possibility of undeclared nuclear explosive devices. The South-East Asian Treaty, signed in Bangkok in December, requires the parties to comply with commitments on nuclear trade, safety and radioactive waste management.

The database on illicit trafficking incidents became fully functioning and recognized as an authoritative list on incidents verified by Member States. The International Physical Protection Advisory Service, which was established to advise States on improving nuclear safety security systems, conducted missions in Bulgaria and Slovenia.

Despite the limitation on resources, the Agency's programme has expanded over the last two years. Resources for new activities became available by phasing out some programmes and through efficiency gains. At the end of 1996, 32.9 per cent of the Agency's staff came from developing countries. Although the number of women in the professional category has doubled since 1981, it was still only 17.3 per cent.

Statements

The President of the General Assembly, HENNADIY UDOVENKO (Ukraine), in introductory remarks, noted that for 40 years the IAEA had provided assistance to Member States in developing peaceful applications for nuclear technology. It had played an important role in setting international standards and rules for ensuring nuclear safety, promoting international cooperation in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes and implementing safeguards for nuclear weapon non-proliferation.

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HANS BLIX, Director General of the IAEA, said that in May the Agency's Board of Governors approved a Model Protocol that gave more teeth to the Agency's nuclear-weapon inspection system. A new convention on safe management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel had been adopted and conventions on nuclear accidents updated. The Agency spent about $50 million annually helping Member States using nuclear technology for development, providing training, services and equipment.

Cooperation projects were geared towards the goals set forth in Agenda 21. For example the Agency, with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), helped eliminate Rinderpest, a fatal cattle disease in 16 African countries. It also put nuclear technology to use in helping to study and manage fresh water supplies in 40 countries. Financial resources for development projects was under pressure everywhere.

He said the Agency was not urging any country to use nuclear power, but worked on making that energy source more attractive and economical. It encouraged exchanging information in building and operating nuclear plants and developing new technologies for power generation, fuel production and waste management. In the wake of the Chernobyl disaster new standards for nuclear power plant safety and radioactive waste disposal had been developed. Steps had been taken to supplement those standards with binding international rules, and last year a convention on the safety of nuclear facilities entered into force, with over 40 States parties. In September a Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was adopted, and had been signed by over 20 States.

A forum on energy in sustainable development might be needed, he said. The Agency seemed to be the only place in the United Nations system where the benefits of nuclear power were explicitly referred to by governments. It had been pointed out that the use of nuclear power was relevant in the context of the threat of global warming. With the development of an international nuclear safety culture the real risks in use of nuclear power could be kept very low. Higher use of nuclear power in technologically advanced countries could substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

He said nuclear verification was an important part of the Agency's work. Major steps were being taken to increase the ability of the Agency safeguards to detect undeclared nuclear installations and material. In 1991 it was discovered that Iraq, a party to the NPT and a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the Agency, was pursuing a secret programme for enrichment of uranium and weaponization, convincing the Agency's Member States that the safeguards must be strengthened.

The Agency had undertaken major efforts to achieve that goal, drawing on inspection experiences in Iraq, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Africa. New safeguards included access to more nuclear-related

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information; greater access for inspectors to sites; use of new detection techniques; and measures to facilitate operations and cut costs. It was important for governments, media and the public to be aware that no inspection system could give a "clean bill of health", and governments must judge whether to take at face value any report indicating that no undeclared nuclear activity had been found.

He said it was not possible to guarantee that Iraq did not have some concealed components, activities and facilities. The Agency ensured the destruction, removal or rendering harmless of all proscribed items it discovered, and placed dual-use items under monitoring. It was concerned about Iraq's refusal to facilitate the use of fixed-wing aircraft by the Agency and UNSCOM in connection with the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Refusal of access could be caused by a desire to conceal something. The Agency was deploying most of its ongoing monitoring and verification activities to prevent Iraq from using technology to which it might gain access for nuclear weapons. Iraq retained nuclear-weapon expertise and documentation.

The Agency was verifying a freeze of the nuclear programme of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as requested by the Security Council. No progress had been made on the preservation of information on past nuclear activities and on the movement of nuclear liquid wastes from the reprocessing plant under the freeze. However, the Democratic Peoples's Republic accepted the designation of additional inspectors, although it was still in non- compliance with its safeguards obligations.

In May, he went on, an Agency workshop explored the idea of combining international non-proliferation treaty-type safeguards with regional or bilateral means of verification in the Middle East, with the aim of creating a nuclear-free zone there. In 1996, at the Agency's general conference, the United States, the Russian Federation and the Agency examined ways of verifying whether nuclear material transferred out of the defence sector in the United States and Russia, notably from dismantled nuclear weapons, was stored and used for peaceful purposes. No progress had been made in Geneva yet on the proposal for a "cut-off" agreement to stop production of fissile material for weapon purposes.

The IAEA developed a programme to help governments combat nuclear trafficking, offering advice to some States on legislation, protection standards and administrative machinery and training. The Agency developed a database of trafficking cases and followed up media reports by contacts with authorities. The adequacy of the international convention on the physical protection of nuclear material, which deals with nuclear material in international transit, might need review. The Agency also organized international teams to assess whether former nuclear weapons sites posed a radiological threat. Fortunately the results were not alarming.

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HISASHI OWADA (Japan) said that, as Dr. Blix would be retiring shortly, he wished to express gratitude for the Director-General's 16-year tenure, during which the IAEA had developed into an international body of remarkable effectiveness and efficiency, faithfully fulfilling the objectives and principles of its statute.

Introducing the draft resolution, he said that in 1997 the Agency had celebrated its fortieth anniversary. One of its most outstanding accomplishments was in the area of safeguards. Since 1992, the IAEA Board of Governors had extensive discussions on strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system to detect undeclared nuclear activities. The deliberations had culminated successfully with adoption of the Model Additional Protocol in May. He requested all concerned States and other parties to the safeguards agreements to conclude the Additional Protocols without delay.

He said in the area of nuclear safety, further codification had been achieved in September, in the form of three instruments: the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management; the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage; and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

With regard to the IAEA's implementation of Security Council resolutions on Iraq, he noted with concern that Iraq had not complied with all the provisions of those resolutions. It was therefore important that the Agency continued its strenuous efforts to fulfil its mandate to identify, destroy, remove or render harmless relevant materials, installations and equipment.

He announced that the Marshall Islands, Albania, Estonia and Latvia had joined the list of co-sponsors of the draft.

JEAN-LOUIS WOLZFELD (Luxembourg), for the European Union, welcomed the decisions taken at the 1995 review conference of the NPT, including decisions on the indefinite extension of the Treaty. He said the Union urged worldwide accession to the NPT and reiterated its call to remaining States, particularly those operating unsafeguarded nuclear facilities, to accede to the Treaty, and to conclude full-scope safeguards agreements with the IAEA. The Union attached particular importance to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and called on all States which had not yet signed, especially those on the list of 44 States whose ratification was needed for the Treaty to come into force, to do so as soon as possible. Addressing the Cut-off Convention (to ban production of fissile materials for nuclear explosive devices), the Union stressed the importance of an immediate start and speedy conclusion of negotiations. It invited the Conference on Disarmament to set up an ad hoc Committee on the subject as soon as possible.

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He said the Union welcomed the progress by nuclear-weapon States in efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate all nuclear weapons, and the desire of all States to work for general and total disarmament with effective international control. On strategic nuclear arms agreements, he said the entry into force of the first Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I) and the forthcoming ratification of START II would clear the way for negotiations to open between the United States and the Russian Federation on START III, and major reductions in the nuclear arsenals that those two countries, with the United Kingdom and France, had unilaterally set in train. These were all highly significant steps. The Union was of the view that the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones were important elements complementing the NPT, and welcomed the zones established under the Tlatelolco, Pelindaba and Rarotonga Treaties, and efforts to give effect to the Treaty of Bangkok, establishing a nuclear-free-zone in south- east Asia. The Union supported such zones for south Asia and for the Middle East, with a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in that region.

He said the Union reiterated its appeal to all governments to implement the programme for preventing and combating illicit trafficking in nuclear material. All States which had not yet done so should place their nuclear material under an effective protection system. The Union was concerned at the shortcomings in the implementation of the IAEA's agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on the application of safeguards in the framework of the NPT, and the fact that that country had not yet provided the Agency with needed information verifying that it had not diverted nuclear material for illicit uses.

He said the Union was concerned that Iraq still had not provided the Agency's action team with all the information it had requested, and deplored Iraq's obstruction of aircraft used by the Agency in February. Iraq must cooperate fully with the Action Team and fulfil its obligation to hand over immediately to the Team any nuclear weapon-related equipment, material and information it may still possess, and allow the Action Team immediate, unconditional and unrestricted rights of access in accordance with Security Council resolution 707.

He said the Union reiterated its pledge to provide financial aid to the Ukrainian authorities to assist them in improving nuclear safety by undertaking to close down the Chernobyl nuclear installation by the year 2000. It urged member States of the IAEA to forward their assessed contributions promptly and in full to the regular budget, so that the Agency could fulfil its task promptly and efficiently, according to a timetable that it had been able to establish in advance on a sound financial basis.

JOHN CRIGHTON (Australia) urged those few States remaining outside the NPT to accede to it. He said the strengthened safeguards regime was central to achieving the objectives of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference.

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A highly developed Agency capacity to detect undeclared nuclear activity would be the key to the eventual attainment of a nuclear-weapon-free world. The goal should be strengthened safeguards in all States. Australia was an active participant in the negotiation of the Model Protocol and was the first State to conclude and sign a bilateral protocol with the IAEA incorporating measures into its own safeguards obligations. The new IAEA Director-General and his staff should make it a priority to encourage States to adopt the Protocol, as it represented the new standard for bilateral safeguards agreements with the Agency.

He said Australia saw the Agency's twin roles in technical cooperation and safeguards as part of the political compact between States which underpinned the nuclear non-proliferation regime. His Government would maintain its support for the technical cooperation fund next year to the amount of 1,289 million Australian dollars. It was considering providing an additional 1.5 million Australian dollars in extrabudgetary assistance for a project under the IAEA Regional Cooperation Agreement for Asia and the Pacific on the "application of radio isotope technology to sustainable infrastructure development in Asia and the Pacific". The project would apply to public sector engineering, strengthened radiation protection and regional education in nuclear medicine.

The system of nuclear export controls facilitated transfers consistent with the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and did not have a hidden agenda, he said. In the interests of transparency, a seminar on the role of export controls in nuclear non-proliferation followed the recent IAEA general conference. The seminar partially fulfilled the expectations of the NPT Review and Extension Conference that efforts be made to better explain the operation of the controls.

KAMALA SINHA (India) said the IAEA must promote the development of nuclear power in developing countries, where it would generally be the inevitable option exercised to satisfy future energy needs. The perception that nuclear power was on the downward slope was limited to the developed countries where consumption patterns were already at extravagant levels and where the association in the minds of the public of nuclear power with nuclear weapons clouded their perception of the world's need for nuclear power generation. The real demand for nuclear power was in the developing countries, not only as an important energy option, but also a catalyst for developing other high technologies. The growth of nuclear energy in the future would be in Asia -- in the Republic of Korea and Japan now, and in India and China.

She said the paramount requirement was to make safety a part of the culture of nuclear technology. The Agency must be a prime mover in ensuring that safety-related equipment and the free flow of information on research and development in safety-related issues was readily disseminated, without being

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hindered by arbitrary export control regimes. The hesitation because of unfamiliarity on the part of a developing country to initiate a nuclear power programme should not be compounded by fears about safety and by uneasiness about commitments under comprehensive safeguard agreements.

She cited areas in which India acted it according with the objectives of the Agency. It must be recognized, she said, that the developing world could not be denied the right to strive for a reasonable quality of life, which could be assured in the future only through nuclear power. There was much that the IAEA could do to drive out pessimism, encourage growth of nuclear safety culture and ensure that safeguards implementation did not inhibit technology development in the area of nuclear power.

GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said his country had always looked to the IAEA to maintain an indispensable balance between security activities and cooperation and technical assistance for development. The IAEA had provided cooperation to his country, and from among the most recent programmes which the Agency had developed, he noted the nuclear medical facilities which he said would have significant social and economic impact on the scientific community of his country.

He said cooperation to promote nuclear science and technology in Latin America had resulted in the implementation of 12 projects, but those projects were endangered by financing problems. It was also essential that the promises made at the Treaty of Tlatelolco and the NPT be implemented to promote confidence between Member States. Mechanisms were being put in place to honour obligations made at other treaties directed at weapons of mass destruction, such as those relating to chemical weapons and biological warfare. In such situations, the experience of the IAEA in ensuring non- discriminatory practices would guide all assumed obligations. Mexico, as an initiator of the first nuclear-arms-free zone, and in its capacity as trustee of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, welcomed the Model Protocol on safeguards.

PARK SOO GIL (Republic of Korea) said his country had been among the first to sign the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. He urged other countries to do the same without delay. His Government supported efforts to strengthen the Agency's safeguards system and welcomed the adoption of the Model Protocol, which would be incorporated into national laws. He said North Korea still refused to fully comply with the safeguards agreement it concluded with the Agency. The light water reactor project of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization was proceeding smoothly, but no progress had been made in the Agency's three-year effort to preserve the information relevant to North Korea's past nuclear activities, as mandated by the Security Council in 1994. That was a matter of serious concern, he said, since North Korea's lack of cooperation with the Agency could cause difficulties for the light water reactor project under way. Its completion was predicated on the Agency's

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verification of Pyongyang's initial report, which would be impossible without the preservation of information.

He said North Korea should realize the consequences of non-cooperation with the Agency and act accordingly without delay. The North Korean nuclear issue would not be resolved until Pyongyang faithfully abided by its multilateral and bilateral non-proliferation commitments under the Non- Proliferation Treaty, the Agreed Framework and the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, signed by North and South Korea in 1991.

GRIGORI V. BERDENNIKOV (Russian Federation) said that as one of the depositories Treaty of the NPT, the Russian Federation unequivocally confirmed its fidelity to its principles and opposed attempts to revise a Treaty that had effectively prevented the diffusion of nuclear weapons around the planet for more than a quarter of a century. In that context, it was important to start negotiations, within the Conference on Disarmament, on a non- discriminatory and universal multilateral agreement on the prohibition of the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

He said Russia had put forward various initiatives concerning the application of IAEA's statutes. The strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and the ensuring of nuclear safety and security also included effective suppression of the illegal traffic in nuclear materials. Ensuring the viability of nuclear power was one of the basic conditions for meeting the world community's requirements in energy and should be one of the primary purposes of the Agency.

The Agency could start to elaborate a comprehensive strategy for the development of nuclear power, he said. The use of an enormous research potential, formerly the exclusive prerogative of military programmes, was regarded as one of the areas of nuclear power development, related to the reduction in and utilization of nuclear weapons. The future of nuclear power was inseparably linked with the need to meet ever-growing safety requirements. The Moscow Summit on Nuclear Safety and Security had made a major contribution to the solution of those problems. It was important that the positive initiatives agreed upon in Moscow be further developed. The international community, supported by the IAEA, should consolidate the transformation of the atom from a factor of separation, deterrence and confrontation into one of partnership, interaction and peace.

MOVSES ABELIAN (Armenia) commended the Agency for helping to re-activate one unit of the nuclear power plant in Medzamor, Armenia, and providing support to ensure its safe operation. After independence, he said, Armenia was subjected to an energy blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey, resulting in a severe energy crisis, which had forced re-activation of the plant. Armenia

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gave priority to safety and sought to observe Agency guidelines and policies. It welcomed the entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the adoption of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, the Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.

Armenia was drafting legislation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, he added, and was willing to continue cooperating with the main international consultants. It had established a National Nuclear Regulatory Authority, which developed partnerships with international organizations and regulatory bodies. It was working with the IAEA on technical cooperation programmes and engaged in a dialogue on planning, implementing and reviewing them. Armenia viewed the Agency as the "central medium for the safeguarded transfer of nuclear technology, operation expertise and technical assistance" to countries adhering to non-proliferation goals.

A. PETER BURLEIGH (United States) welcomed the international agreement of last May to strengthen the safeguards system and strongly supported continued efforts to bring the agreed new safeguards measures quickly into effect. He also welcomed the Joint Convention on Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, as well as the resolution on the Chernobyl Sarcophagus, adopted at this year's IAEA general conference, as a further commitment to nuclear safety. He reaffirmed support for the Agency's work in nuclear safety and the commitment of the United States to strengthen that important endeavour.

He commended the Agency's continued efforts to implement Security Council resolutions in regard to Iraq and believed Iraq continued to withhold information from the IAEA. He understood the Agency's desire to focus more on building a long-term monitoring regime in Iraq, and called on Iraq to provide a complete accounting of its nuclear-weapon programme and to respond to all IAEA requests for information.

He said lack of cooperation by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea with the Agency was of concern to the United States. He encouraged that country to work with the Agency towards full compliance with its safeguards agreement, and in the interim to take all steps the Agency deemed necessary to preserve all information relevant to verifying the accuracy and completeness of the initial report of the inventory on nuclear material subject to the safeguards.

JULIO BENITEZ-SAENZ (Uruguay), speaking for the MERCOSUR countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and for Bolivia and Chile, said one field of action of the IAEA that those countries had followed with interest was that devoted to technical and scientific evaluations practised in recent years. They welcomed the holding of the international conference on

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consequences of the nuclear accident of Chernobyl, from which interesting experiences in physical, psychological and environmental effects of the affected populations were reviewed.

He noted results of conferences related to the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management and the Amended Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Convention on Supplementary Financing. Those contributions were a clear compromise of the international community on the updating and strengthening of international law regulating different aspects of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

He said the IAEA had fulfilled in a successful manner its commitment to a verifiable system in terms of the four-party agreement on safeguards allowing interaction between the Argentine-Brazilian Agency over Accountability of Nuclear Material and the IAEA.

That agreement would be recognition of the maturity achieved by the Argentine-Brazilian agency, and the will to progress in the terms of the four- party agreement.

On the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, he said Uruguay was committed to updating and modernizing the so called "ARCAL Programme", by which cooperation in the region was enhanced. An intergovernmental agreement was being structured that would serve as a framework for peaceful uses of nuclear energy in Latin America.

PETER RIDER (New Zealand) said the South Pacific Nuclear-Free-Zone Treaty provided for the application of IAEA safeguards. The Agency's role in applying those safeguards was of crucial importance in maintaining the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture. He welcomed the development of the Model Additional Protocol, which would greatly enhance the Agency's ability to detect undeclared nuclear activities. His country was in the process of undertaking the domestic consultation required for them to conclude the Protocol, and he urged other countries to do the same.

He said New Zealand supported the Agency's continuing and impartial efforts in respect of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He welcomed the Agency's continued monitoring of the "freeze" under the Agreed Framework, but remained deeply concerned at the lack of progress in the implementation of the safeguards agreement. He called on the Democratic People's Republic to return to full compliance with that agreement.

His country was also supportive of the Agency's endeavours in respect of Iraq, where recent developments, as reflected in the draft resolution, were a cause for concern. The UNSCOM must be allowed to continue its work without hindrance.

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OSKARAS JUSYS (Lithuania) said nuclear energy accounted for 84 per cent of his country's total energy output. His Government was naturally concerned with plant safety and because of its transparency policy international experts knew everything about the two reactors at the Ignalina plant. The plant operators benefitted greatly from the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme and other bilateral programmes. Two weeks ago, his Government submitted legislation to its Parliament on the plant's management. The new law was designed by the IAEA utilization safety mission in cooperation with the Ignalina safety jury set up under an agreement between Lithuania and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

He said national safety measures must always be aligned with international mechanisms operating under relevant international agreements. The most significant challenge facing his country, and others which used nuclear energy, was the interim storage and final repository of spent fuel. The IAEA already had programmes for the management of radioactive waste originating from medicine, industry and agriculture; it was time a similar programme was designed for spent nuclear fuel which was also an international security issue.

He said Iraq must allow experts from the IAEA and UNSCOM to inspect its facilities. If Iraq and others had nothing to hide, they should avoid taking actions that aroused suspicion.

AKRAM ZAKI (Pakistan) said that while supplementing its own efforts and resources in the peaceful uses of atomic energy with the IAEA's technical assistance, Pakistan had established a broad base of professional manpower, research institutes, training facilities, medical centres and other technical services, including 10 nuclear medical centres that catered to a quarter million patients every year.

He said experience had shown that the establishment of nuclear-weapon- free zones was a step in the direction of a nuclear-weapon-free world. Pakistan's proposal to establish a nuclear-weapon-weapon-free zone in south Asia was part of its endeavour to promote a comprehensive approach to resolving regional problems, including the resolution of security disputes and issues. The core cause of tension in south Asia was the suppression and the denial of the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. The dispute must be resolved in accordance with Security Council resolutions, and any lessening of tension was likely to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation in the region.

He said Pakistan always supported IAEA efforts in strengthening safeguards measures, and had actively participated in discussions, but as a non-participant in the NPT, it was not obliged to accept the measures suggested in the model Protocol. It would fully meet its obligations by honouring the present safeguard agreements. Pakistan was also one of the

General Assembly Plenary - 15 - Press Release GA/9353 48th Meeting (AM) 12 November 1997

first signatories to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which addressed the safety of nuclear power stations. It had also ratified the Convention.

Despite the negative public perception created in some countries, he went on, nuclear energy remained a viable and attractive energy option for many countries and particularly those with fossil-fuel deficiency. Despite Chernobyl, the safety record of the nuclear industry was unmatched by any other major enterprise. Opposition to nuclear power was thus based on misunderstanding or it was a deliberate pretext to deny that technology to less favoured countries. The Agency should adopt non-discriminatory measures in providing access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in order to facilitate the achievement of the overall objective of a safe, clean and secure world.

MOHAMMED ABULHASAN (Kuwait), said his Government fully supported the work of the IAEA, and welcomed the development of peaceful uses for nuclear energy, particularly in such areas as electricity generation, water, heating and the assurance of food security. Kuwait had signed the CTBT and attached great importance to the IAEA's safety mechanisms for curbing the use of nuclear energy for military purposes. Concerted international action was required to curb or limit the arms race. Various treaties to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones were an attempt to halt nuclear proliferation. He hoped a similar zone would be established in the Middle East. However, Israel had refused to accede to the CTBT or the IAEA's security arrangements.

On the situation in Iraq, he said Kuwait supported efforts by UNSCOM, and also the remarkable way the new chairman, Richard Butler, and his staff had been carrying out their duties. It was important to recognize the important role of UNSCOM inspectors in ensuring peace and stability in the region. Iraq's effort to stop the work of the UNSCOM inspectors was a challenge to the international community. Iraq must comply with relevant Security Council resolutions and the Council itself must adopt a unanimous resolution.

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