The IAEA is proud to be the venue of this conference to adopt a convention on the safety of nuclear power installations, and I am pleased to welcome you, distinguished delegates, to this important event. The IAEA Secretariat will provide the logistics and secretariat functions of the Conference and may also, as an observer, present views on technical issues which arise. In opening this conference let me sketch the background to our deliberations. The vision of sustainable development, of combining environmental goals with improved living standards worldwide, must inevitably address the issue of expanded and sustainable sources of energy, especially electricity.
Nuclear energy can make an important contribution.
Assurance of safety, alongside assurances of exclusively peaceful use, remain fundamental prerequisites for the future reliance on nuclear power as an attractive option for meeting the growing global demand for energy. These two elements are recognized in the Statute of the IAEA as well as in the national laws of many States. However, there are important differences in the allocation of responsibilities for these two areas between the international community and national authorities - safety having long been a predominantly national concern, while the commitments to an exclusively peaceful use has been, even before the establishment of the IAEA, an intensely international concern. As a result of this concern, a strong and complex network of international, regional and bilateral agreements has gradually been established of binding commitments to the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy and to international control and verification. States have accepted to be individually bound within a unique system of bilateral verification agreements concluded with the Agency - the Safeguards Agreements.