IAEA / GROSSI RE-ELECTION
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: IAEA / GROSSI RE-ELECTION
TRT: 4:20
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2023, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Wide shot, conference room
2. Wide shot, President of the IAEA’s 67th General Conference Vilawan Mangklatanakul announced approval of the appointment of the Director General
3. Med shot, Grossi took oath of the office
4. Various shots, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Grossi, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“We continue. We are not going anywhere. We will continue there. Fifty three missions comprising a total of more than a hundred agency staff have been deployed as part of the continued presence at all five nuclear sites in Ukraine.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Grossi, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“With regard to the NPT safeguards agreements, I must reiterate that significant safeguards issues remain outstanding after a number of years. I also cannot, but recognize that implementation, the activities set out in the most recent joint statement between myself and Iran in March this year, have not made the progress I was hoping for. On this and on matters related to the de facto suspended implementation of the JCPOA, the IAEA and I personally remain actively engaged and ready to work with Iran. Only full cooperation by Iran and tangible results will take us to the credible assurances that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Grossi, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“The IAEA continues monitor the DPRK nuclear program. We have observed activities at several sites consistent with the DPRK's continuation of its illegal nuclear program, which is in clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolution. We will continue updating and hoping to engage again with the DPRK.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Grossi, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“If business as usual continues, far too many people will die of cancer in the coming decades because the burden of this crisis is falling disproportionately on those who have less. Low- and middle-income countries. Over seventy percent of Africans do not have any access to radiotherapy. More than twenty countries on that continent don't have a single, simple radiotherapy machine. This is why we launched Race of Hope Cancer Care for All.”
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Rafael Grossi, Director-General, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
“Climate change requires us to take long term responsibility for the well-being of our planet and of its people. The nuclear field with the IAEA at its center takes its long-term responsibility very serious, whether in finding solutions to safely storing waste, designing the commissioning into nuclear power plants that will serve us for the good part of the century or by having an ever-learning mindset when it comes to building a culture of nuclear safety and security that spans the globe. Nuclear energy is safer than it has ever been, and it's safer than almost any other source of energy.”
14. Various shots, conference room
Rafael Grossi is reappointed for a second four-year term as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Speaking at the opening of the Agency’s 67th annual General Conference today (25 Sep) in Vienna, Grossi reflected on the work of the Agency since he assumed office four years ago and the events - the global pandemic and war in Europe – that have made it more difficult – and urgent – to tackle the ever-more-present calamity of climate change and the very serious challenges of poverty, disease, hunger and food, water and energy insecurity.
In 2022 alone, the IAEA assisted 149 countries and territories in food and agriculture, health and nutrition, and nuclear safety.
Nuclear safety and security in Ukraine remain top priorities for the IAEA. The IAEA has established a continued presence since last year at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in order to monitor compliance with the five principles for protecting the plant from a serious accident. The IAEA’s presence continues there; “we are not going anywhere,” Grossi said.
In addition to ZNPP, the IAEA is present at Ukraine’s other nuclear power plants – Khmelnitsky, Rivne and South Ukraine – and the Chornobyl site. As of the end of August, the IAEA has completed 53 rotation missions in Ukraine.
In relation to the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Grossi reiterated that significant safeguards issues remain outstanding and “implementing the activities set out in the most recent Joint Statement between myself and Iran, in March this year, has not made the progress I was hoping for. On this, and on matters related to the de-facto suspended implementation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the IAEA and I personally remain actively engaged and ready to work with Iran.”
The IAEA also continues to monitor the Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear programme. “We have observed activities at several sites consistent with the DPRK’s continuation of its illegal nuclear program, which is in clear violation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” Grossi said. “We will continue updating and hoping to engage again with the DPRK.”
Director General Grossi brought attention to the global cancer crisis. Last year, he launched Rays of Hope, in Addis Ababa on the margins of the African Union Summit, with the support of African heads of states and the World Health Organization (WHO), to assist countries seeking the tools and knowledge to address the cancer care gap in low-and-middle-income countries. Over 70 per cent of Africans do not have access to radiotherapy, and more than 20 African countries do not have a radiotherapy machine.
On the topic of the climate crisis, Director General Grossi emphasized the role of nuclear power to mitigate climate change and how more countries are expressing interest in nuclear energy, particularly through new avenues, like small modular reactors. “Nuclear energy is safer than it has ever been, and it is safer than almost any other source of energy,” he added, citing research that puts nuclear energy at about the level of wind and solar when measured in fatalities per unit of energy produced
The 67th Regular Session of the IAEA General Conference is being held from 25 to 29 September 2023 at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) in Vienna, Austria, where high-ranking officials and representatives from IAEA Member States will consider a range of issues.