I"A GENERAL CONFERENCE BEGINS ANNUAL SESSION

Press Release
IAEA/1324

IAEA GENERAL CONFERENCE BEGINS ANNUAL SESSION

VIENNA, 21 September (IAEA) -- Ministers and high-level governmental representatives from 105 Member States of The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), including 15 Ministers, are meeting in Vienna this week for the forty-second regular session of the General Conference. The Conference opens today, 21 September, and is scheduled to last through 25 September at the Austria Centre Vienna.

The opening session included a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

The Conference's general debate is scheduled to begin with statements by the following Ministers: from Austria, Barbara Prammer; Japan, Yutaka Takeyama; United States, Bill Richardson; and the Republic of Korea, Chang-Hee Kang.

Ambassador Roberta Lajous Vargas, Resident Representative of Mexico to the IAEA was elected President of the Conference. Ambassador Lance Joseph, Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA, was elected Chairman of the Committee of the Whole.

Among items on the Conference's provisional agenda, delegates will be asked to approve the Agency's 1999 regular budget, which calls for total expenditures of $224.3 million. Additionally, the Conference will be asked to approve a target of $73 million for voluntary contributions towards the Agency's technical cooperation fund for 1999.

Throughout the week, delegates will be considering a range of topics on the peaceful development of nuclear technologies. They include those related to further strengthening the IAEA's programmes in areas of nuclear, radiation and waste safety; technical cooperation; and the safeguards system. Other items on the provisional agenda include measures against illicit trafficking in nuclear materials and other radioactive sources; implementation of the safeguards agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.

More information about the General Conference, including documents and background reports, is available over the IAEA's WorldAtom Internet Services at http://www.iaea.org/GC/gc42. * *** *