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UN:
UN ATOMIC WATCHDOG HELPS PROTECT AGAINST NUCLEAR TERRORISM AT BEIJING
OLYMPICS: 11/9/2007 (MaximsNews.com, U.N.) |
UNITED NATIONS - / www.MaximsNews.com@
U.N./
- 11 September 2007 – The
United Nations atomic watchdog agency is providing expertise to support the
security of major public events against the threat of nuclear terrorism,
including ongoing preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
“The
Agency’s nuclear security work has clearly improved overall nuclear
security,” UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General
Mohamed ElBaradei told the agency’s Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on
his latest report on nuclear security and protection against nuclear terrorism.
“But
much remains to be done in shaping the nuclear security framework, in building
up-to-date security systems and in dealing with the legacy of past lax security.
This is not a problem that can be solved overnight; it takes time and resources
to achieve a sustainable, internationally acceptable baseline level of nuclear
security,” he said.
Expertise
for protection at major events is just one of element is the IAEA’s arsenal of
measures. The Agency already provided support in the preparations of July’s
Pan American Games in Brazil.
Mr.
ElBaradei noted that over the past 12 months the IAEA continued to expand Member
State participation in the Illicit Trafficking Database and that nuclear
security training had been provided to some 1,650 individuals from 90 countries.
The Agency assisted in improving physical protection at facilities in nine
States.
“More
than 900 items of security related equipment were supplied to Member States,
including border detection equipment for 29 countries,” he said. “Integrated
Nuclear Security Support Plans were completed in 38 countries, and the agreed
activities have been planned or are being implemented in each of the States
concerned.”
The
international community has taken on board a variety of international
instruments relevant to nuclear security and he welcomed the rapid entry into
force of the International Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism.
“However,
progress on ratifying the Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection
of Nuclear Material remains slow,” he stressed, noting that only 11 of 128
States Parties had so far accepted the Amendment.
The
Agency is foreseen as playing an important role in implementing these
instruments. “To that end, we have started an effort to provide nuclear
security guidance that would facilitate implementation,” Mr. ElBaradei said.
“This and other programme changes entail transitioning from a situation in
which strengthening nuclear security has been addressed as an ad hoc reaction to
the prevailing threat of nuclear terrorism to a situation in which nuclear
security will be addressed in a normative, sustainable manner.”
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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