Amano wants development recognition

Friday, 23 January 2015

Yukia Amano (Image: C Brady - IAEA)

 
The IAEA's mandate could easily be changed to 'Atoms for Peace and Development', said its leader Yukiya Amano in Malaysia. He wants the organisation to be a "unique stakeholder" in global development.

Amano spoke in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, at the start of a tour of southeast Asia. He praised the contribution of Malaysia to the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) work as well as regional nuclear development, through, for example, the hosting of students of nearby nations to conduct experiments at the Puspati research reactor.

Malaysia is planning to use nuclear power for electricity generation and Amano pledged the IAEA's support "to help them do it safely, securely and efficiently." But for many countries IAEA's work is more closely related to supporting development through strengthening of nuclear science and technology.

Noting that the IAEA had supported assessments of cancer treatment in some 65 countries over the last eight years, Amano said "I would like to see the IAEA recognised as a unique stakeholder which promotes development through the use of nuclear technology."

The IAEA said Amano wants it to play an active role in the post-2015 development agenda that is to succeed the Millennium Development Goals. "Our mandate has been summarised as 'Atoms for Peace', which was the title of a famous speech by US President Eisenhower in 1953 in which he proposed the creation of the IAEA," he said. "I believe we could now expand that to 'Atoms for Peace and Development'."

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News