ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY GENERAL CONFERENCE BEGINS ANNUAL SESSION

ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY GENERAL CONFERENCE BEGINS ANNUAL SESSION

VIENNA, 17 September 2001 (IAEA) -- Ministers and high-level governmental representatives from the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 132 member States are meeting in Vienna this week for the forty-fifth regular session of the General Conference.  The Conference opened today, 17 September, and is scheduled to conclude 21 September 2001 at the Austria Centre Vienna.

The Conference opened on a somber note with a moment of silence followed by a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir to honour the victims of the tragedy in the United States.

The opening session included a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a statement by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.  (A separate press release will be issued on the statement.)  The Conference approved the applications of Botswana and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for membership of the Agency.

The Conference elected as its President Ambassador Tom C.E. Grönberg, the Resident Representative of Finland.  It also elected Ambassador Helga Hernes, Resident Representative of Norway, as Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole.

The Conference's general debate began with statements by Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy, United States; Koji Omi, Minister of State for Science and Technology Policy of Japan; Kim Young-hwan, Minister for Science and Technology of the Republic of Korea; and for the European Union, Ambassador Michel Adam of Belgium.

Among items on the Conference's provisional agenda, delegates will be asked to approve the Agency's 2002 regular budget which calls for expenditures of $245 million for Agency programmes.  Additionally, the Conference will be asked to approve a target of $73 million for voluntary contributions towards the Agency's technical cooperation fund for 2002.

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, transport and waste safety and technical cooperation.  Other items on the agenda include the strengthening of the safeguards system and measures to improve the security of nuclear materials and other radioactive materials; implementation of the safeguards agreement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.

Also being convened during the week is a scientific forum on "Serving Human Needs:  Nuclear Technology for Sustainable Development", to promote awareness that technical co-operation in non-power applications can produce cost-effective solutions to high-priority problems of sustainable development.  The forum brings together experts and senior governmental officials from the IAEA's member States and partner organizations for discussions on nuclear technology applications. 

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/worldatom/About/Policy/GC/GC45/.

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