On Tuesday, 1 December, in Vienna, Yukiya Amano entered the International Atomic Energy Agency´s headquarters in Vienna on his first day as Director General. Mr. Amano is the "Atoms for Peace" Agency´s fifth top official since the Organization´s founding in 1957. A career diplomat and lawyer, he has worked extensively on IAEA-related, disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear energy issues for over thirty years. He is committed to nuclear disarmament and extending the benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, applications, science and energy to a global population.
At a meeting with Agency staff members today, Mr. Amano began his four-year term with this remark, "The situation surrounding the Agency is stormy now. We have a lot of difficult challenges, but I would like to do my best. I would like to address the global issues that include non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, enhancing nuclear security, addressing the energy need, providing good health care, and water management, among others. I will try to be an impartial, reliable, and professional Director General."
Before assuming his duties as Director General, Mr. Amano served as Japan´s Resident Representative to the agency until his selection as Director General in July 2009. From September 2005 to September 2006, he was the Chair of the Agency´s Board of Governors. At the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Mr. Amano was appointed as Director General for the Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Science Department until 2005, after serving as a governmental expert on the U.N. Panel on Missiles in April 2001 and on the U.N. Expert Group on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education in July 2001. Mr. Amano contributed to the 1995, 2000 and 2005 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conferences, and he chaired the 2007 Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
A graduate of the Tokyo University Faculty of Law, Mr. Amano joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in April 1972, when he began a series of international postings in Belgium, France, Laos, Switzerland and the United States. Mr. Amano was born in 1947, is married and speaks English, French and Japanese.