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Statement by Mr. Chen Qiufa, Head of the Chinese Delegation, at the IAEA 54th General Conference
(20 September 2010, Vienna)
Mr. President,
Please accept my sincere congratulations on behalf of the Chinese Delegation to you on your election as President of this General Conference. I'm convinced that your rich diplomatic experience and remarkable leadership will steer the Conference to a complete success.
Mr. President,
As the sole inter-governmental organization in the nuclear field, the IAEA has won increasing recognition of the international community for its efforts in promoting peaceful uses of nuclear energy, non-proliferation and fostering nuclear security.
Global revitalization of nuclear energy has brought more opportunities for the Agency to play a even larger role in the promotion dimension. The Agency has provided targeted services through its Technical Cooperation (TC) programs to emerging nuclear power countries by focusing on areas such as nuclear power infrastructure, human resources, nuclear safety mechanism and uranium resources prospecting, among others. The Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) service conducted by the Agency has also achieved good results. Efforts have been made by the Agency in the establishment of TC regional centers and creation of comprehensive TC projects which met member states' needs. The Agency also stresses the future development of nuclear energy. The International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) has made milestone progress in the past decade as a key forum for international cooperation in nuclear technology innovation.
Mr. President,
Nuclear science and technology development in China has also seen new progress, with the China Advanced Research Reactor (CARR) and China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) gone critical on May 13, and July 21 of this year respectively, which laid a solid foundation for further research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies. As nuclear energy undertaking in China keeps on development, cooperation between China and the Agency becomes ever more strengthened.
In technology cooperation, the Nuclear Energy Special Program (CPR 4032) is moving forward steadily. Such programs help to enhance China's capability in infrastructure building, train immediately needed human resources, promote sound development of nuclear energy, and will play a exemplary role for nuclear energy development of developing countries in Asia-Pacific Region and the world at large. The 2010-2015 China TC Country Programme Framework signed in June 2010 between China and the Agency lays out a good blueprint for our future cooperation.
In nuclear safety, China has put in place a nuclear safety legislation and regulatory system which is in line with international practice by referring to nuclear safety standards documents of the Agency. Last July, the IAEA assembled a team of 23 experts from 15 countries to conduct an Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission in China to review our regulatory framework for nuclear safety; nuclear safety laws, regulations and standards; and radioactive waste management. Having listened to the presentations from the Chinese competent authorities and taken field visits to several nuclear facilities, the IRRS mission provided useful suggestions and recommendations, which provides important guidance in promoting the overall performance of China's regulatory system and safety culture development.
In the nuclear security area, China ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism in August 2010. President Hu Jintao attended the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC and delivered an important speech, pointing out that China will continue to support the IAEA in its role in the field of nuclear security and announcing that China will cooperate with relevant countries to build a Center of Excellence on Nuclear Security. During the visit of DG Amano to China last month, China organized a Seminar on Cooperation between China and IAEA in last August, with over 200 participants from related fields. Officials from the Agency and Chinese experts who have long been engaged in cooperation with the Agency were invited to make presentations about the IAEA and exchange experiences. The Seminar explored in depth how to integrate IAEA resources with practical needs of China, which would enhance their cooperation to a higher level. China signed with the Agency the Practical Arrangement on Nuclear Security, with the purpose of expanding cooperation in terms of nuclear security legislation and standards, nuclear security for major public events, nuclear security capacity building and personnel training, based on the successful cooperation for Beijing Olympic Games. China is now making active preparation efforts for the establishment of the Technology Demonstration Center of Excellence on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Nuclear Security. In this regard, we welcome cooperation from the Agency and other interested states.
Mr. President,
As the largest developing country in the world, China has greatly benefited from TC assistance of the Agency in nuclear energy development, and fully appreciated it. Meanwhile, China has accumulated rich experiences in nuclear power design, construction, and R&D based on its relatively comprehensive nuclear industry system, which will be helpful for other emerging nuclear power entrants for reference. China is willing to actively participate in the activities of strengthening national nuclear infrastructure of emerging nuclear power countries sponsored by the Agency, making due contribution to the nuclear energy development of developing countries.
Mr. President,
To enhance the important role of the Agency, the Chinese delegation hold the view that focus should be given to the following three aspects:
First, continue to strengthen technical cooperation for sustainable development of nuclear energy.
Emerging nuclear energy countries expect the Agency to exert more efforts in the promotion of sustainable development of nuclear energy. The agency should give heed to the opinions of the great majority of developing countries and further increase technical cooperation by the means of TC, to maintain a balanced development of both categories of activities.
Second, continue to foster nuclear safety and nuclear security capability building of member states, and to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of nuclear safeguards.
The Agency should continue to push forward development of a global nuclear safety and security legislation and standards system, to strengthen exchanges of knowledge, experiences and lessons learnt, popularize and promote nuclear culture so as to increase public confidence in nuclear energy development. With increasing work load of nuclear verification activities, the Agency should build its own technical capability while fully cooperating with member states and using their resources to achieve nuclear safeguards targets.
Third, play an active role in addressing sensitive and hot-spot nuclear issues.
As the intergovernmental international organization responsible for nuclear safeguards, the Agency attracted lots of attention from the international community for its efforts in addressing hot-spot nuclear issues. China always holds that the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and Iranian nuclear issue should be peacefully resolved through dialogues and negotiations, and supports the Agency and the Director General to continue to play due roles to push forward diplomatic settlement of the issues.
In summary, the technical cooperation for developing countries should be demand-driven; safeguards regime should be further strengthened in effective and efficient manner; and sensitive issues should be addressed on collective wisdom.
Thank you for your attention.