The Draft IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety, which was approved by the Board of Governors during its September 2011 meeting, has been described as "a significant step forward in strengthening nuclear safety" by Director General Yukiya Amano.
The Action Plan will also be considered by next week's gathering of the General Conference, the IAEA's annual meeting.
During the Board's consideration of measures to strengthen nuclear safety and security, the body approved the revised IAEA Safety Standards on the Safety of Nuclear Power Plants: Design (Safety Standards Series No. NS-R-1), as well as a revision of IAEA Safety Series No. 115, or Draft Safety Requirements: Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards.
Other matters were discussed such as: strengthening international cooperation in nuclear, radiation, transport and waste safety; nuclear security, including measures to protect against nuclear and radiological terrorism, as well as the annually issued Nuclear Security Report; strengthening the IAEA's activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications; and nuclear verification, including, applying Safeguards in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; implementing the NPT Safeguards Agreement and Relevant Provisions of Security Council Resolutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran; as well as Implementing the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic.
The Board also discussed important issues relating to the application of IAEA safeguards in the Middle East and, in this context, welcomed the Director General's invitation to convene a Forum on experiences relevant to the creation of a nuclear-weapons-free-zone in the Middle East to be held in Vienna from 21 to 22 November 2011.
The Board also discussed the Agency's efforts to pursue a target of equal representation of women across all occupational groups and categories in the IAEA Secretariat, especially in senior policy-level and decision making posts.