IAEA Speakers: Nuclear technologies are needed to save lives, sustain global development

ANS President Andy Klein reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference:

Yukiya Amano (left), Director General, IAEA, emphasized that nuclear technologies save lives worldwide through the development of safe food techniques for fighting insects and disease transmission, new food crops that are resistant to drought and disease (more than 4,200 new varieties), and nuclear energy for development.

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II (right) of Monaco addressed the importance of nuclear techniques to attaining sustainable global development, especially in two areas: protection of the environment and promoting global health. He stressed that international cooperation in nuclear technologies is indispensable to the attainment of sustainable development. Additionally, he mentioned the necessity of research and development in fusion energy, especially the work being done in France on ITER.

Finally, Andrew Wheatley (lower left), Jamaica’s Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, identified nuclear energy's role in the desalination of water and in safe deployment of small and scalable nuclear power supplies as being important for small developing countries.