Statement of the Director General to the forty-third regular session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency

In his Statement on the forty-third regular session of the General Conference of the IAEA, the Director General of the Agency presented the past, present and future programme of the Agency in terms of the three 'pillars' that constitute its mandate: Nuclear technology (with emphasis on nuclear power and nuclear applications); Nuclear, radiation and waste safety (with emphasis on international conventions prescribing the basic legal norms for the safe use of nuclear energy, internationally accepted safety standards, and measures to assist Member States in the implementation of these conventions and standards, including technological solutions for improving safety); Nuclear verification and the security of material (with emphasis on IAEA safeguards, and physical protection of nuclear material), including possible new verification activities and specific verification issues (Iraq, DPRK, Middle East region). The Director General also touched in his Statement on two supporting elements that undergird these 'pillars': effective interaction with partners and the public, and achieving excellence in management