International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano said today that the agency and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) share the goal of improving people’s lives through nuclear science and technology.
The IAEA plays a key role in the NPT, even though the agency is not party to the 45-year-old landmark pact, Amano told government ministers and other senior officials on the first day of the four-week NPT Review Conference at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Amano updated attendees on the IAEA’s work since the last NPT Review Conference in 2010. He highlighted the agency’s efforts to use nuclear technology to foster member nations’ development, strengthen nuclear power plant safety and prevent nuclear terrorism and the diversion of radioactive material for military use.
“The impact of our work in the daily lives of millions of people around the world is extraordinary and deserves to be better known,” Amano said. “I believe that nuclear science and technology have much to contribute to development, in areas such as human health, agriculture and water management, as well as in energy.”
Amano said IAEA’s Peaceful Uses Initiative has helped raise more than 60 million euros for projects that benefit more than 130 countries.
