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UN atomic watchdog calls for financial and technical support to fight nuclear terrorism

UN atomic watchdog calls for financial and technical support to fight nuclear terrorism

Plenary meeting of IAEA's 50th regular session
The United Nations atomic watchdog agency has called on all Member States to provide political, financial, and technical support to prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism.

The call, which also seeks necessary funds for the Nuclear Security Fund, came in a resolution passed by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference, which was attended by more than 100 Member States and ended last week.

The resolution on “Nuclear Security - Measures to Protect Against Nuclear Terrorism” emphasizes the importance of physical protection and other measures against illicit trafficking and national control systems for ensuring protection against nuclear terrorism and other malicious acts, including the use of radioactive material.

Other resolutions call for strengthening the safeguards of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to prevent the use of nuclear material for prohibited purposes while facilitating cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy; transferring nuclear technology to developing countries to aid to their socio-economic development; and enhancing a whole spectrum of nuclear applications from power production to cancer therapy to eradication of malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.

The conference also called on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which withdrew from the NPT in 2002, to cooperate promptly in the full and effective implementation of IAEA safeguards. The resolution stresses the desire for a “peaceful resolution through dialogue to the DPRK nuclear issue, leading to a nuclear-weapon-free Korean Peninsula, with a view to maintaining peace and security in the region.”

Another resolution requests IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to continue consultations with the States of the Middle East to facilitate the early application of full-scope safeguards to all nuclear activities as a necessary step towards the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free-zone in the region.

The Agency’s Board of Governors has elected Slovenian Resident Representative Ernest Petric as chairman for the two-year period 2006-2007 in succession to Japanese Permanent Representative Yukiya Amano.