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Summary of Statement by Zhang Huazhu, Head of Chinese Delegation to the 45th IAEA General Conference
17 September 2001, Vienna, Austria
source: IAEA document GC(45)/OR.1, p. 27-29, Nov. 2001.
125. Mr. ZHANG Huazhu (China) strongly condemned the terrorist
attacks carried out in New York and Washington and expressed his heartfelt
sympathy for the victims and their families.
126. One of the main tasks of the General Conference was to review the Agency’s
work and to outline its future objectives. Only by faithfully adhering to the
Statute and maintaining the balance
between its two main functions could the Agency gain vitality and function
properly. Amongst its positive achievements in the preceding year, the Agency
had actively participated in the work of the
CSD-9 and the COP6, thereby contributing to scientific and objective evaluation
of the role of nuclear energy in sustainable development. It had continued to
assist its Member States in establishing and improving their nuclear safety
infrastructures. It had also promoted international cooperation in the safety of
nuclear waste and radiation sources and the security of radioactive materials,
and had facilitated the enhancement of nuclear safety worldwide. The Agency had
helped introduce nuclear applications in agriculture, water resource management,
human health and environmental protection, bringing social and economic benefits
to its Member States. It had also made significant progress in developing
integrated safeguards while continuing to carry out its obligations under
safeguards agreements, thus strengthening the international non-proliferation
regime.
127. Emphasizing the importance of nuclear power to sustainable development and
the Agency’s role in that connection, he pointed out that the world was facing
unprecedented ecological challenges. The developed countries, which accounted
for about two thirds of the total greenhouse gas emissions, bore the major
responsibility for global warming, while the developing countries, whose
emissions were low, were faced with the task of revitalizing their economies and
eliminating
poverty to achieve sustainable development. The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol
provided for common but differentiated responsibilities for developed and
developing countries in meeting those challenges.
128. The demand for energy was increasing as the world’s economy developed, and
traditional energy sources like coal, petroleum and gas would still have to be
used until a new clean energy source was developed. Optimized energy structure
policies should be adopted to cut down pollution, and advanced technologies
applied to improve the fossil fuel utilization rate. At the same time, the use
of clean energy should be increased. More than 40 years of experience had
demonstrated that nuclear energy was clean, safe and economical. Nuclear power
now accounted for one sixth of the world’s total power generation and also had
helped to reduce greenhouse gas emission. China, along with many other
countries, was in favour of including nuclear energy in the
Clean Development Mechanism. He hoped that the Agency would make greater efforts
to make the general public realize the significance of nuclear power in that
regard.
129. China, the largest developing country in the world, had prepared guidelines
for appropriate development of nuclear power as part of its recently published
tenth five-year plan. China had 8 nuclear power units, with a total installed
capacity of 6600 MW, under construction and several more were being planned. At
the same time, it attached great importance to developing and using advanced
technologies aimed at increasing the utilization factors of traditional fossil
fuels. It was
willing to co-operate with other countries to protect the world’s environment.
130. Doubts continued to be expressed about nuclear proliferation, nuclear
safety and the economic competitiveness of nuclear power. The Agency had a
pivotal role to play in the proper understanding and settlement of those issues.
It should play a co-ordinating role in developing new nuclear energy
technologies. After more than 40 years of operating experience and in the light
of scientific and technological advances, attention was focusing on
new-generation reactors and fuel
cycles with inherent safety and non-proliferation features and economic
competitiveness. At the request of its Member States, the Agency had initiated
INPRO. China, which fully supported that initiative, had sent experts to the
Agency to contribute. The effectiveness of that programme could be improved in a
number of ways. Firstly, the Agency, the only inter-governmental organization in
the nuclear field, should make greater efforts to co-ordinate and encourage more
countries with R&D capability to participate in the programme. Secondly, the
Agency should establish close relations with other co-operation mechanisms in
that area (for example, the USDOE Generation IV International Forum) with a view
to exchanging information. Thirdly, in implementing its programme,
the Agency should take into account the practical requirements of the developing
countries intending to develop nuclear power so that they could benefit from
research results.
131. While responsibility for nuclear safety was primarily a matter for the
governments of the countries concerned, the Agency should serve as the centre of
international co-operation. The Agency, with the support of its Member States,
had prepared many international legally binding
instruments, including the Early Notification Convention, the Assistance
Convention, the Nuclear Safety Convention, the Joint Convention, and a series of
nuclear safety criteria. Those, together with assistance to individual Member
States and the peer review mechanism, had played an important role in enhancing
nuclear safety around the world. His country had received assistance under the
technical co-operation programme on training for senior management at the
Qinshan nuclear power
plant. China commended all those efforts and hoped that the Agency would
continue to play a key role in that regard.
132. The Agency’s safeguards constituted an effective barrier against nuclear
proliferation and its safeguards system had proven its effectiveness for more
than 40 years. It was being further strengthened by the “Programme 93+2” and
development of the integrated safeguards approach. China supported those efforts
and looked forward to an even more effective and efficient safeguards system. He
hoped that a timely report would be made by the Secretariat to the Board and the
General Conference on the progress of the integrated programme and that issues
of principle would be subject to the approval of those organs. China considered
that the Agency had adequate legal authority and technical means to further
improve the effectiveness of safeguards.
133. In conclusion, he promised China’s unswerving support to the Agency in its
efforts to achieve a better world for mankind.
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
