Former Environmental Ministers call on UN to reform IAEA mandate and End the Nuclear Age

This demand highlights the contradictory roles the IAEA plays in the international arena. On one hand, the IAEA is tasked with stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and providing technical assistance to support the nuclear disarmament process. On the other, the IAEA’s mandate promotes the dangerous myth of peaceful nuclear power. The former environmental ministers call on the UN to propose amendments to the IAEA statute at the forthcoming IAEA Board of Governors and General Conference in mid September.

"The risk of nuclear arms proliferation seems to be growing rapidly. To be able to function effectively, the IAEA should end its schizophrenic role. It cannot effectively prevent nuclear arms proliferation when it, at the same time, promotes nuclear energy technology, which produces material for bombs. Therefore the time has come to make end of this double role of IAEA,” said Mrs. Satu Hassi, Member of European Parliament and former Finish Environmental Minister.

“The United Nations should dedicate this reform to the thousands of people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus whose lives were scarred forever on the morning of the 26th of April 1986. The 20th anniversary of the biggest nuclear disaster in history is an opportunity to remove the threat of nuclear disasters from the planet, starting with reforming the IAEA, said  Felicity Hill, Nuclear Political Advisor for Greenpeace.  “Atoms for Peace sounds like a nice ideal, but we all know that the reality of atomic energy is anything but peaceful.”

“The IAEA acts as a true promoter for the nuclear industry worldwide. By deliberately ignoring the interlink between civil and military nukes, it contributes to the proliferation of fissile materials. Nations are also responsible in this dangerous interaction. France particularly, must end its sales policy of nuclear materials and technologies to whomever is willing to pay. This trade jeopardizes world peace…” concluded Mrs. Dominique Voynet, Senator and former French Minister for the Environment.