International experts to guide IAEA's path
A high-level panel of experts has held its first meeting in Vienna to discuss the challenges that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faces up to the year 2020 and beyond.
The 'Commission of Eminent Persons', chaired by former Mexican President, Ernesto Zedillo, includes 18 senior international figures. It will make recommendations to the board of governors regarding long-term priorities and funding for IAEA. The group, which met on 25-26 February, was established by IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei.
The commission's findings are intended to stimulate further discussion - among IAEA member states, between the states and the IAEA secretariat, and by the broader public - about the future of the agency and how best it can contribute in the coming years to the efforts of the international community to achieve development, peace and security, ElBaradei said.
The members of the commission include Rajagopala Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to the Indian government; Louise Fréchette, former Canadian deputy minister and former UN deputy secretary-general; and Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of Areva. Also included are Academician Evgeny Velikhov, president of Russia's Kurchatov Institute; Wang Dazhong, director of the Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology (INET) of China's Tsinghua University; and, Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, president of Japan's national Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
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