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IAEA Conducts Annual Meeting By Greg Webb VIENNA — At a critical time for the international nuclear nonproliferation regime, the U.N. nuclear watchdog began its annual meeting Monday. This general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency is the first agency-wide meeting since the disclosure of a nuclear smuggling network led by a former top Pakistani nuclear scientist, and it follows nearly two years of international wrangling over how to respond to Iran’s advanced nuclear programs. The agency has taken criticism for not detecting or investigating those events earlier, and member states are scrambling to enhance the organization’s powers and to shore up the shaken foundations of the nonproliferation system. As the first plenary session opened, the Iran issue rose immediately to the forefront as agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei called on Tehran “to continue to accelerate its cooperation, pursuing a policy of maximum transparency and confidence building, so that we can bring the remaining outstanding issues to resolution within the next few months and provide assurance to the international community.” ElBaradei’s remarks were a bit softer than the agency’s Board of Governors, which Saturday cautioned Iran to improve its cooperation with the agency by the board’s next meeting, scheduled to begin in late November (see related GSN story, today). The United States weighed in a few minutes after ElBaradei. “As a party to the [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty], Iran accepted legally binding obligations. For nearly 20 years, it has acted contrary to those obligations, secretly building sensitive nuclear fuel-cycle facilities, and doing so for weapons purposes,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Iran responded in the afternoon with a statement asserting the nation’s right to pursue peaceful nuclear energy and vowing to continue to its efforts. As for the smuggling problem, Abraham introduced a proposal to help nations crack down on the ability of individuals, acting without state authority, to conduct nuclear trade (see related GSN story, today). Concerned about potential terrorist access to nuclear materials, both the United States and Russia yesterday praised a growing international partnership to identify and secure fresh and spent fuel at research reactors worldwide. Such facilities could be attractive targets to terrorists seeking to acquire materials for making nuclear weapons or dirty bombs (see related GSN story, today). While nonproliferation dominated the headlines here so far, the agency is conducting its routine administrative responsibilities of selecting officers and approving budgets. These activities highlighted the difficult balance the institution has faced from its creation in 1957: To assist nations to develop nuclear technologies — primarily for power and medical applications — while working simultaneously to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Demonstrating the dichotomy, ElBaradei’s 30-page statement to the conference discusses advances to nuclear technology for energy, agriculture, water desalination, cancer treatment, but these topics are followed by a report on measures to improve nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation.
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