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Statement at Opening of IAEA Safeguards Clean Laboratory Extension and Ground-Breaking Ceremony of Nuclear Material Lab

Seibersdorf, Austria

Inauguration of IAEA Safeguards Clean Laboratory Extension and Ground-Breaking Ceremony of Its Nuclear Material Laboratory

Director General Amano, Mr. Mayor, Distinguished Guests and Colleagues,

It is my privilege to be the beneficiary of a coincidence between my being here as the Chairman of Board of Governors and the occasion of the completion of the Clean Laboratory Extension and the ground-breaking of Nuclear Materials Laboratory - and I am really honored to be talking as "VIP" on this auspicious occasion.

Both landmarks deserve to be commended and I join my fellow governors and ambassadors and colleagues in congratulating Director General Amano, Deputy Director General, Nackaerts, of the Department of Safeguards, and all those who have contributed in these projects or will contribute in one way or another - and by another I mean all the extra-budgetary contributions.

When the IAEA was founded more than five decades ago and tasked to promote peaceful applications of nuclear technology, few could have imagined that its job would turn out to be so multifaceted and complex. Yes, the tasks ahead and challenges are even bigger but Agency has been demonstrating its capabilities, and I am sure it will continue to do so by optimizing the available resources - both men and money.

Let me recall here that the Board of Governors, since 2007, has given considerable attention to the successful completion of this project and has been closely monitoring its implementation. The Director General a moment ago rightly reminded us that without the generous financial and other support of Member States, among them the Government of Austria as the host country of the Agency, this project could not be implemented. Let me join the Director General in expressing the hope that this valuable and needed support will continue to be provided by Member States.

We can be confident that the lab facilities already set up here - the extension being inaugurated to house the Large Geometry Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer - and the one for which ground is broken today and which will make available to Agency state-of-the-art nuclear sample analysis capability by end 2014 will strengthen the overall quality of the Agency's safeguard efforts, and will contribute to the overall success of the ECAS project.

I am particularly pleased to learn that the new Laboratory will also provide space for visiting scientists from Member States and serve as training facility for nuclear security professional.

I do not want to take much of your time - and make this beautiful day any less attractive - So I quit by felicitating once again the Agency and its well wishers who have assembled here today and by thanking the organizers for providing me this opportunity to be a part of this ceremony in a noticeable manner.

Last update: 16 Feb 2018

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