The Hindu : National : India, U.S., IAEA hold meeting on radiological security

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

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India, U.S., IAEA hold meeting on radiological security

By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

NEW DELHI, FEB. 9. India, the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have agreed to cooperate in the field of the security of radiological materials and for locating "orphan" radiological sources.

An External Affairs Ministry statement said a joint delegation of representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and the IAEA visited India on Wednesday for the first India-U.S.-IAEA meeting on the Regional Radiological Security Partnership (RRSP) programme.

"The U.S. and IAEA representatives welcomed India's participation in the RRSP programme as a regional partner and discussions were held to work out the modalities of this cooperation. The three sides acknowledged their shared objective of enhancing globally the security of dangerous radioactive sources," it said.

"The U.S. and the IAEA delegates expressed appreciation for India's offer of providing infrastructure and expertise on a regular basis for conducting international training courses in India under the aegis of the IAEA on issues related to the security of radiological sources and materials as also for locating orphan radioactive sources in countries which are unable to effectively deal with them and which seek assistance from IAEA," the statement added. In a May 2003 speech, the then U.S. Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, said the U.S. wanted to focus on developing countries.

"We are prepared to work with other countries to locate, consolidate, secure and dispose of high-risk, orphan radiological sources by developing a system of national and regional repositories to consolidate and securely store these sources."

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