UN Agency to drop nuclear bombshell

Sensational leaked document unveils plan to change IAEA mission

Feature story - 1 April, 2006
A sensational leaked document obtained today by Greenpeace reveals that the head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is considering realigning the agency's mission from promoting nuclear power towards renewable energy.

Close up of the IAEA memo.

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DISCLAIMER - Of course this was an April Fools joke.But it raises a serious issue that the UN uses tax payers money topromote dirty,dangerous nuclear power.

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In a short internal memo dated today and intended for circulation tostaff at the Agency, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei outlineshis intention to reframe the agency's mission statement:

"Whilst I alone cannot change the mandate of the Agency, I am conveninga panel of experts under my direction to prepare a report for the nextGeneral Conference in September. Their remit will be to find the bestapproach for the agency to become a world leader and advocate ofrenewable energy sources"

Our nuclear expert and regular IAEA watcher, William Hill stated:

"At first we didn't believe it, we thought it was a joke. Now that it hassunk in we welcome the acknowledgement of the fundamental hypocrisy ofthe IAEA's dual role and the responsible recognition that it wasunsustainable. We are disappointed that immediate change has not beenmade and further dismayed at the likelihood that the consultativeperiod will be dominated by industry interests. We will, however,almost certainly open a bottle of champagne today to mark this historicdevelopment."

We have long been  critics of the IAEA's conflicting dual role. Onthe one hand, it is in charge of preventing the spread of nuclear weaponsand leading member states towards nuclear disarmament. But it alsopromotes civil nuclear power programs that provide the means to buildnuclear weapons.

Only yesterday we received a call from an agency insider claiming hehad proof of dramatic developments at the IAEA. Identifying himselfonly as Art Sixnofour he set up an elaborate hand-over of the leakeddocument in a Vienna park.

While we have not been in possession of the document long enough tofully analyse the implications and confirm the details of the proposedplan, we believe its explosive contents justified rapid release of thedocument.

It is too soon to assume the Agency's mission will change but we canonly applaud ElBaradei's courage in seeking to remove the foolhardy contradictionat the heart of the current IAEA mission statement. The world will be asafer place if his proposal is adopted.

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This might have been a joke for April1st, but it makes a serious point. By promoting the dangerous myth ofAtoms for Peace and nuclear power, the IAEA is responsible forspreading the very things it seeks to control: nuclear weaponstechnology and materials.



Greenpeace believes that the only wayto stop the spread of nuclear weapons is for the nuclear weapons statesto disarm and for the world to reject the technologies and materialsused to produce them, by changing to promoting peaceful renewableenergy sources the IAEA would be acting to combat the two most pressingthreats facing the world today, climate change and nuclearproliferation.



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