INT’L ATOMIC ENERGY CONFERENCE BEGINS

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Mongolia's delegation led by N.Tegshbayar, a head of Mongolia’s Nuclear Energy Authority (NEA), is taking part in the 58th international Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference in Vienna of Austria. The measure started September 22. Our delegates has also met with officials from the US Department of Energy. Mongolia, who became a member of IAEA in 1973, together with the gathered is to ratify annual programme of activities and the budget. Vanuatu, Guyana, Djibouti, and Comoros declared memberships in the agency in the beginning of the conference, increasing a membership to 166. A Director-General of IAEA Yukiya Amano noted in his opening speech that these days the countries of the world are discussing their development goals after 2015, and said the nuclear science and technology are of great importance in satisfying the development goals, especially in health, agriculture, water management, industry and power sectors. However, this importance must be acknowledged by a public, he stressed. According to Mr. Amano, there are 437 atomic reactors operating in 30 countries, seven new are being constructed, mostly in Asia. The nuclear power reactors provide 11 percent of the total need of the world electricity. He also stated that the provision of safety in nuclear energy sector has become an urgent issue. The Agency has been cooperating with the member-countries on the issue, and has trained over 3,000 specialists for nuclear energy safety by 2013. On the matter of nuclear energy safety, a summit will be held in 2016 to discuss the achievements, setting up the main guidelines of further activities. The participants from the member countries namely the USA, the PRC, Russian Federarion, European Union, Austria, Kazakhstan, the Republic of South Africa, Japan, France have given speeches, commonly agreeing to the necessity to provide safety, and assured their readiness to cooperate. The members have appealed for the united efforts in non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.