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The Associated Press: IAEA chief: Nuclear states set example for others

IAEA chief: Nuclear states set example for others
By GEORGE JAHN –  1 Oct 08 VIENNA, Austria (AP) — The chief U.N. atomic inspector suggested Tuesday that nuclear weapons states bore some blame for other countries seeking such arms, because they are modernizing arsenals rather than scrapping them.Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, spoke on the sidelines of a 145-nation IAEA meeting that has focused partly on proliferation concerns exemplified by North Korea and Iran.

North Korea, which set off a test nuclear blast two years ago, has frozen its disarmament efforts and is moving toward resupplying its plutonium producing reprocessing plant. Iran has defied U.N. Security Council demands that it stop uranium enrichment while stonewalling an IAEA probe into allegations it worked on a nuclear weapons program in the past.

The U.S. France and Britain — three nuclear weapons states that have ratified the Nonproliferation Treaty — are particularly critical of Iran. Although ElBaradei focused on “all” nuclear weapons states, his comments appeared to be a particular challenge to those three to set an example.

“How can I go with a straight face to the non-nuclear-weapon states and tell them nuclear weapons are no good for you, while the weapon states continue to modernize and to say ‘we absolutely need nuclear weapons,'” ElBaradei said.

The Associated Press: IAEA chief: Nuclear states set example for others

Tags: nuclear, antinuclear, uranium, radioactive

October 1, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | weapons and war