Luxembourg
It would be negligent of me if I did not first express my thanks to the French Government, the local organizers of this International Conference, and to the French Atomic Energy Commission, particularly the Department of Military Applications, who invited us to the county of Burgundy and its beautiful capital, Dijon. I also would like to thank the International Atomic Energy Agency for its initiative and the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Criminal Police Organization, Interpol, for their support.
In view of the unmistakable problems facing us on all sides with respect to the use of nuclear technology, the European Commission welcomes the initiative of the IAEA in organizing this International Conference on the Safety of Radiation Sources and the Security of Radioactive Materials.
The responsible European Commission department, the Directorate for Nuclear Safety, was glad to accept the invitation to play an active part in this Conference and is committed to making it a success.
This Conference, jointly organized by the most important international organi-zations faced with the problems of illicit nuclear trafficking, demonstrates the excel-lent level of international co-operation in the field of safety of radiation sources and security of radioactive substances. This international event underlines the important role played by international organizations in meeting both their own objectives and those of the international community.
In 1990, after the collapse of the former Eastern Bloc, the Member States prompted the European Union (EU) to take action to deal with illicit trafficking in nuclear material and radioactive substances. The governments of the EU Member States fully supported the view of the European Commission and believe that only the broadest international collaboration can effectively counteract these new phenomena in the radiation protection field.
The Commission considers increased efficiency in using the financial and administrative resources as a central element in the international efforts in this field.
It is important to stress that the responsibility in the field of security of sources and safety of radioactive materials stays with the national competent authorities.
However, the organizations of the respective national legal systems vary considerably between the different states, both in the Western world and in Central and Eastern Europe.
13
The EU is regularly examining the whole range of its legal activities in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection. On the basis of its overall view of the situation, the Commission is extending and initiating measures to help ensure that the best conditions are created to protect the health of the general public, workers and the environment against the dangers arising from illegal practices with radioactive sources or substances.
These activities are integrated with those of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and frequent consultations take place that allow for a mutual and fruitful exchange of experience and information.
Apart from nuclear safety and radiation protection, the EU acknowledges its responsibilities in the field of customs co-operation and welcomes the support provided by the WCO.
Furthermore, the EU is prepared to make specific proposals in order to find well balanced solutions for bringing Interpol into the solution of problems caused by illicit trafficking and other illegal activities involving radiation sources or radioactive substances.
In the near future it will be necessary to establish a common global under-standing of the problems in the context of this Conference. The European Commission is hoping to receive from this Conference suggestions and criticisms which will lead to most effective measures for bringing about a substantial improve-ment in radiation protection and nuclear safety. In this context, I would like to thank all the international experts for their efforts in the preparation of the Conference and for all their contributions, which, I am sure, will make the Conference a success.
WELCOMING REMARKS
J. Bouchard
Commissariat a 1'energie atomique, Paris
It is a great pleasure for me to join the representative of the French Government and the organizations which have organized this Conference in wel-coming you to Dijon. In agreeing to organize this event, the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) was concerned not only with demonstrating France's interest in a subject which requires ever more constant attention, but also in recognizing the role which nuclear research organizations have to play in defining the nature of the prob-lems raised and the technical and scientific means which could be used to help solve them.
The extensive development of applications utilizing radiation sources or radioactive materials in both the energy sector and other industrial sectors, in medi-cine and scientific research, has gone hand in hand with numerous efforts to ensure protection of the public and the workforce. The results obtained in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection bear witness to that fact.
However, events in the world constantly show that there is no basis for resting on our laurels, a fact of which Governments and the public are more and more aware.
Owing to the great variety of radioactive sources, the many different societies using them and the growing importance of transboundary movements, the subject rightly continues to be accorded high priority.
That priority attention is the obligation of all, and in particular of the bodies whose job it is to work with radiation sources and nuclear material. A recent incident in a CEA centre in the Paris region provides ample proof of this: a 90Sr source — happily, one of low intensity — was erroneously diverted into a non-dangerous waste flow. It took several days to recover it at the incineration site where that waste was sent.
The variety of sources in use in industry, medicine and research poses tricky problems, not only as regards the drawing up of common regulations but also with respect to control of their use. Further progress is still required in the fields of prevention, control and intervention.
Though the nuclear material issue is theoretically less complex, owing to the extensive regulatory framework established by States and the smaller number of play-ers involved, there have been a number of worrying incidents in that area too in recent years. This has given rise to international programmes to improve, in certain coun-tries, the material accounting methods, physical protection resources at storage sites and detection resources at frontiers.
15
I am also happy to have the opportunity here to commend the IAEA's pro-gramme on security of nuclear material, which I have no doubt all the participants at this Conference support.
In my introduction, I stressed the role which players in the nuclear industry have in promoting the understanding and solution of the delicate questions which have brought us together here today. This is certainly the case for an organization like the CEA, which manages many sources and large quantities of material and has developed significant analytical capabilities and numerous technical resources. It is my fervent hope that the experts who have gathered here this week will find ample opportunity to share their knowledge.
In fulfilling our several responsibilities, we have established very effective rela-tions with the customs and the police services at the national level and have devel-oped international collaborative efforts in the fields of nuclear safety and radiation protection to which I attach great importance. You will not be surprised when I tell you that the IAEA, the main organizer of this Conference, occupies the first rank among these international contacts. This unique international organization has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to the new challenges with which developing circumstances continually confront it. Our technical collaboration, which covers various application areas, is aimed principally at promoting the safe utilization of nuclear energy.
Of the various topics on which we have worked together most recently, I would like to pay tribute to the remarkable work done by the international experts assem-bled by the IAEA to assess the current and future radiological consequences of our nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific Ocean. The international conference held in Vienna at the end of June 1998 gave some indication of the considerable breadth of that work and of the extent to which the results confirmed our own statements dur-ing the last test series. I hope you will excuse me if, in my capacity as Director of Military Applications of the CEA, I express here my satisfaction with the results of this independent enquiry.
You will soon be beginning your work. I hope that this week in Dijon will help you gain a good grasp of the main features of the current situation, the problems which remain to be solved and the most promising approaches. Only international exchange of expert knowledge can give us some hope of achieving these objectives.
I would therefore like to thank all those who have come here, and in particular repre-sentatives of foreign countries, for their contribution to our joint deliberations. I look forward with great interest to the summary of achievements we will be drawing up together on Friday.