| Nuclear Agency Chief Says Iran Ready to Talk on Turkish Fuel Plan |
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Aug. 2, 2010 -- Tehran and leading nuclear powers are ready to discuss how to supply Iran with fuel for a nuclear reactor designed for medical research, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano said Monday.
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| Amano |
“I don’t know what to expect,” he said, “but I hope we’ll have a meaningful, constructive meeting.”
Amano’s remarks on Iran came at the end of a lecture in which he called for greater authority for his agency’s inspectors to hold inspections against what he said was the increasing risk of nuclear proliferation as more and more nations adopt nuclear energy as a cleaner alternative to burning oil.
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Amano with Singapore
Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh |
Stressing the ballooning task facing the IAEA, Amano said he also hoped to raise the agency’s role in promoting the use of nuclear technology in fighting cancer, which he called a scourge of both developed and developing nations -- one that kills more people annually than tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined.
“The IAEA has an advantage,” he said, citing the agency’s access to leading technology in radiotherapy and nuclear medication. “Through our programme of action for cancer therapy launched in 2004, the IAEA, working with partners such as the World Health Organisation, has been laying out an important role in improving cancer control in developing countries.”
Despite fears over nuclear waste and the proliferation of nuclear weapons, he said, nuclear power is an increasingly attractive alternative to fossil fuels as a way to meet the energy demands of growing economies while reducing their carbon emissions.
 It is therefore important that the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the IAEA safeguard system be strengthened
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| Amano |
Rising nuclear ambitions, he said, increased the risk of nuclear proliferation. “It is therefore important that the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the IAEA safeguard system be strengthened,” he said. “This means more countries bringing into force additional protocols in addition to agreements with the agency which give our inspectors wider authority to do their job.”
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| Amano and Koh |
He made similar remarks concerning North Korea, noting that the agency has had no inspectors in North Korea since Pyongyang asked them to leave the country in April, 2010. “The recent increase in tensions on the Korean peninsula,” he said, “reminds us that the security situation in the region remains extremely sensitive and underscores the need to address the nuclear issue as soon as possible.”
Photos: Jaeden Ng |
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| General Information |
Topic:
Challenges and Opportunities in the Work of the IAEA
Date: Monday, 2 August 2010
Time: 5.15 p.m. - 6.30 p.m.
Venue:Level 3, Auditorium, Block B, Faculty of Law, NUS Bukit Timah Campus
Speaker:
Yukiya Amano, Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
 Event Details  [201KB]
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