IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei says world nuclear security falteringFebruary 26th 2008
OSLO (Reuters) - The United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday that global nuclear security was faltering and called on leaders to refocus on nuclear issues and kick-start a new round of disarmament talks.
"We need to bolster the non-proliferation regime and move on to nuclear disarmament," said Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "We are at a crucial juncture. The system is faltering," ElBaradei told a conference in the Norwegian capital where he and the IAEA received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.
He said the IAEA was aware of 150 cases per year of nuclear material or weapons gone missing, which could potentially end up in the hands of "organized crime or worse -- extremists".
ElBaradei said nuclear topics, leading issues in the Cold War, had "gone out of fashion and almost disappeared from the international agenda", yielding to causes like global warming.
"There continue to be many gaps in the current security system which make it vulnerable to abuse ... This is actually the greatest danger we face -- that nuclear weapons or material could fall into the wrong hands," said ElBaradei. More >>>
