Mr President,

May I begin by congratulating you on behalf of my delegation and on my own behalf on your election to the Presidency of this General Conference. I am confident that under your able guidance this General Conference will successfully accomplish the tasks assigned to it. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the entry of Angola and Honduras to the membership of the IAEA.

2. I have great pleasure in reading a message from the Prime Minister of India, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee:

"The 43rd General Conference of the Agency marks the end of an era. But as we know every end is also a beginning. A new millennium beckons us. And we, as responsible member States, must rise to the occasion and ensure that we leave behind a legacy, not a liability, for future generations.

We can best ensure this by returning to the fundamentals, shorn of all rhetoric and verbiage and by acknowledging that the primary function of the Agency is to encourage and assist research, development and practical applications of atomic energy, with its multifarious applications in power generations, improving health standards, enhancing the quality and quantity of agricultural yields, in controlling pests and in water resources management, is seen as the key to a better tomorrow. The International Atomic Energy Agency's role in the nuclear power area is particularly significant as this source with the progressive depletion of fossil fuels , is an important option for satisfying the future energy needs of developing countries in the long term.

I take this opportunity to wish the 43rd General Conference of the IAEA all success in its deliberations.

(Atal Bihari Vajpayee)"

3. Early last year the Director General had appointed a Senior Experts Group (SEG) to carry out a basic overview of the programmes of the Agency as well as to provide strategic thinking, practical advice and reccommendations for the future orientation and activities of the Agency. The group has submitted its reccomendations, which could serve a basis for planning the future programme of the Agency . The most important conclusion of the SEG was that, I quote, "the Statute has rather admirably stood the test of time and remains a valid and viable foundation for the Agency's activities into the foreseeable future. Thus, the Agency's 'mission', as drawn from Article II of its Statute remains: 'The Agency shall accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world." unquote.

4. Among these peaceful applications of nuclear energy, and from the standpoint of developing countries and looking at their possible access today and in the future to fossil fuel resources of the world, nuclear power generation is the foremost. While the decision to pursue the nuclear power option is no doubt a national one, the Agency's mandate to promote in an objective manner the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity should not be eroded while it discharges its responsibilities of helping to ensure safety and implementing safeguards. Increasingly, the Secretariat has become diffident on nuclear power related matters, perhaps influenced by the environment in which it is located, where power generation, having reached a point of saturation, finds it difficult to find support for new nuclear plants . However, while nuclear power may be stagnating in Europe and North America, it is growing fast in Asia and some other parts of the world where it is being looked upon as an inevitable option to satisfy future energy needs.

5. Nuclear power becomes even more relevant in the context of global environment considerations. Presently, it accounts for the avoidance of 8 % of global carbon dioxide omissions. It is unfortunate that the Kyoto Conference on the Convention on Climate Change did not explicitly mention "nuclear" among the cleanest sources of energy despite the Agency's efforts in recent years in projecting nuclear energy as one of the means for mitigating carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) evolved under the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Convention on Climate Change.

6. Recognising the importance of the role of nuclear energy especially in developing countries, India hosted an international seminar on "Nuclear Power in Developing Countries: Its potential Role and the strategies for its Deployment" in Mumbai in October 1998. We thank the Agency for the assistance extended to us in organising the seminar. We were also happy to receive the Director General of the IAEA Dr Mohamed ElBaradei on his official visit to India in February this year. I must add here that it was gratifing to hear the DG mentioning in his speech yesterday morning, technology as one of the pillars of the Agency.

7. One quantifiable measure of economic development of a country is the per capita consumption of electricity. For Indians to reach a standard of living which will be somewhat comparable to those living in developed countries it has been estimated that the per capita consumption of electricity should increase at least by a factor of 8 to 10. Internal reviews have led us to conclude that in the coming century nuclear energy will account for an increasing share of the electricity mix in India. It is our endeavour to reach 20,000 MW(e) of nuclear power by the year 2020 as a first step. In the last one year our efforts to accelerate our nuclear power programme to reach that target have borne fruit. The performance of our ten nuclear power plants in the last three years has been improving consistently. In 1998-99 the overall capacity utilisation was 75%. For the period from April to August 1999 the capacity utilisation touched a high of 78%. One of the two Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) units in Rajasthan, RAPS-2, has been producing power continuously since 6 June 1998 after successful enmasse replacement, with 100% indigenous technology, of 306 radioactive coolant channels. I am happy to announce that a state-of-the-art indigenously designed 220 MW(e) PHWR attained criticality at Kaiga a few says ago on September 24. Another 220 MW(e) PHWR, the third unit in Rajasthan is expected to reach criticality in a couple of months' time. Work on the second unit in Kaiga and the fourth unit in Rajasthan are in an advanced stage of completion. In addition, construction work commenced on the two 500 MW(e) indigenously designed PHWR reactors at Tarapur last October. The preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the construction of two 1000 MW(e) WERs at Kudankulam, in technical cooperation with Russia is underway and is expected to be completed in 2001.

8. To ensure long term energy security India has chosen to follow a "closed-fuel cycle" policy which calls for the settting up of reprocessing plants and breeder reactors. Our Fast Breeder Test Reactor at Kalpakkam, over a decade old, has achieved all technological objectives. The indigenously developed and hithero untried mixed Uranium-Plutonium carbide fuel has reached a burn-up level of 49,000 MWd/t (upto July 1999) and has performed excellently as revealed by post-irradiation examination. A programme of irradiation of zirconium-niobium capsule for irradiation creep measurements was carried out. With the rich experience gained from FBTR operation, the indigenous design and development of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) is progressing well and the construction is expected to begin in 2001. The preliminary Safety Analysis Report on Reactor Assembly, Heat Transport System and Component Handling have been completed. A four legged walking robot for in-service inspection of the PFBR steam generator has been designed and developed.

9. Mature technologies for reprocessing waste managment and recycle of plutonium have been demonstrated and are available. Progress is under way on the Thorium- Uranium 233 cycle also. In this context, it is worth mentioning that because of our great interest in the closed nuclear fuel cycle, we have always considered spent fuel as a vital resources material. This was emphasised by us during the negotiations on the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste management. The closed fuel cycle, adopting a "reprocess to recycle Pu" approach after extended period of spent fuel storage, has several advantages. It renders reprocessing and nuclear waste management a more viable and safe technology, with reduced Man-Rem expenditures, since it minimises the complication due to the presence of Americium-241 in the recycled fuel fabrication process. The planning of reprocessing capacity should be such that the needs of the fast reactor advanced PHWR, etc. which facilitate the utilisation of Plutonium and Thorium while reducing the input of natural Uranium (in the process realising the much higher energy potential of Uranium) can be met on "Just in Time" basis, which is a very important concept in materials management. Americium is not of any proliferation concern and this has also been borne out by the Board's recent decision in this regard.

10. An Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), using plutonium and Uranium 233 as fuel is being designed at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre(BARC). AHWRs constitute a part of the third stage of our nuclear power programme which will mark a transition to thorium based systems as it will use as fuel the U233 obtained by the irradiation of thorium in PHWRs and FBRs. Our 30 KWt experimental reactor, KAMINI at Kalpakkam using indigenously fabricated U233 attained its full power. The facility is being used, for neutron radiography and also for various experiments related to neutron activation analysis.

11. The power programme has a support a support base ranging from fuel fabrication to electronics and heavy water facilities. Based on design and development at BARC, the Electronics Cooperation of India Limited (ECIL) has produced the Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition (SCADA) system for switchyard and power equipment for the new power stations in Rajasthan. This is a sophisticated system which provides for the monitoring from the main control room of the status of various power equipment in the nuclear power station and permits the operation of circuit breakers and isolators in the switchyard. The Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) developed a novel method for production of seamless zircaloy-4 square channels for the two Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) at Tarapur which were hitherto imported. The zircaloy-4 square channels are manufactured from seamless tubes employing a square die and a draw bench.

12 The past year has also been an excellent year for the safety record of our facilities. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) is a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) and actively participates in WANO activities. In January 1998, a WANO peer review was conducted at the Kakrapar nuclear power plant. Another WANO peer review has been planned at the Narora nuclear power plant in early 2000.

13. The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) stringently monitors the safety record of India's nuclear facilities. The AERB has set up an independent Safety Research Institute whose main objective will be to carry out and promote safety related research and analysis in areas relevant to regulatory decision making. In the context of the Y2K problem, the Government of India has set up a High Level Action Force to monitor the status of preparedness in various sectors of the economy. Atomic Energy has been identified as one of the 11 critical sectors in which an in-depth review has been undertaken. The various stages of the review including inventory preparation, detailed assessment and remediation have been implemented. In addition, detailed contigency plans have also been drawn up. Further, towards fulfilling its mandate as an independent regulatory body, the AERB has set up its own committee to monitor and ensure that overall safety is not in any way affected by Y2K related problems.

14. We are now actively considering India's accession to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials. Since, in practice, we have been for long adhering to the standards of physical protection prescribed under the Convention, this would only mean a formal acceptance of the objectives of this Convention.

15. We appreciate the Agency's efforts in preventing illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. Clandestine acquisition of sensitive technology has occasionally occurred because preventing this also requires the commitment of all the Member States of the Agency. In this connection, let me mention that India's non-proliferation credentials have all along been impeccable. We have in place export control mechanisms which have effectively ensured that no material, equipment or technology exported from India has been misused. It is therefore, no surprise that analysts have characterised India as a classic non-proliferator. India's commitment to global nuclear disarmament stands undiluted.

16. Since its inception, our nudear programme has been characterised by a holistic approach. Thus, while power generation is indeed a matter of priority, non-power applications of nuclear energy in areas such as medicine, agriculture and industry are given emphasis in our R&D programme. The Isomed Plant, the facility in Trombay for sterilisation of medical products operated by the Board for Radiation & Isotope Technology (BRIT), has completed 25 years of successful operation and has been providing sterilisation service to medical industries in and around Mumbai. There are three other such units functioning in different parts of the Three units of Gamma Chamber 5000 have been supplied to Indonesia and Myanmar through the IAEA and to Egypt against open global tender.

17. With a population of nearly a billion, food security is a crucial issue for us. Radioisotopes are being used to improve fertilizer use efficiency, monitoring the fate and persistence of pesticides in soil, ground water and environment, reduction of post-harvest losses by extension of shelf life and preventing damage from insect, and microbial contamination. Research efforts at BARC have resulted in 22 mutant varieties for commercial cultivation. Radiation processing of a wide variety of food items have been undertaken since 1994. A commercial facility for radiation of spices is nearing completion at Navi Mumbai. The Radiation Medicine Centre which pioneered nuclear medicine in India is involved in R&D in health science using radionuclides. Recently, we have tied up with a Veterinary College to extend nuclear medicine facilities to small animals such as dogs, cats and goats. Subsequently, this facility will be extended to large animals. During the year, the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) Tissue Bank contributed to the development of the Multi-media Distant Learning Package on Tissue Banking produced under the Regional Cooperative Agreement (RCA) for Asia and the Pacific under the auspices of the IAEA. In fact, a wide range of R&D activites fall under the RCA induding research reactor utilisation, radiation protection, tracer technology and electron beam applications. Recognising the importance of human resources development we have hosted several regional workshops and training courses under the RCA programme in the last year. Altogether we have hosted 15 IAEA events in India during the period.

18. India conuntinous its staunch support to the Agency's Technical Cooperation Activites. As in the past we are happy to pledge the amount for the Technical Cooperation Fund for 2000 and payment will be made on time as in previous years. Last year we had called on the Agency to identify centres of excellence for human resources development under the Technical Cooperation for Developing Countries (TCDC) programme and had offered our training facilities to scientists and engineers from developing countries. We would like to reiterate our offer.

19. While the result of applied research are tangible immediately, there would be no progress without investing in fundamental research. We have an extensive network of institutions under the Department of Atomic Energy engaged in fundamental research. At the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), a LINAC booster for the existing Pelletron Accelerator has been developed. The cryogenic aspects of the design and fabrication has result in a spin-off for the cryogenic industry in the country with many engineering problems being solved for the first time. A 450 MeV Synchroion Radiation Source (SRS) Indus- became operational at the Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT), Indore in April 1999 and the first results frorn the experiments are expected to be available by the end of the year. We have an abiding interest in fusion because of its potential for clean and safe power generation and have set up an experimental programme at the Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar. The first indigenously built tokamak ADITYA has been operational since 1989 and has led to significant discoveries on intermittency and bursty transport due to coherent structures in tokamak edge turbulence. Our second generation experiment - a steady state superconducting tokamak, SSTI is currently under fabrication and is likely to be the first such experiment in the world to generate 1000 second plasma pulses.

20. In our quest for improving the quality of life the role of technology is pre-eminent. Without constant refinement technology uses its utility. The IAEA is a unique multi-disciplinary science and technology agency within the UN system. It should continue to be guided by the principle that its credibility is based on its scientific and technological competence. This can be maintained only, if the Agency keeps itself at the forefront of nuclear science and technology assisting in the coordination of research and development programmes among interested Member States and institutions.Towards this end, research in frontier areas such as innovative reactors and thermonuclear fusion should be actively encouraged. It is important to realise that fusion plasma research not only prepares one technologically to reap the benefits of fusion power when available, but also leads to the development of spin-off technologies in the areas of the large volume UHV systems, cryotechnologies large copper and superconducting magnets, AC and DC power systems, sophisticated data acquisition and control systems, lasers, microwave and spectroscopic diagnostic system, etc. The IAEA has played a crucial role in the context of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) programme. A similar platform could be provided to non-ITER countries to think of joint long term actvities and to foster linkages with ITER.

21. The issue of funding the Agency's Verification of Nuclear Arms Control and Reduction Measures has been discussed both at the BoG and outside. In keeping with the "Swords to Ploughshares" concept propounded in the early days of the Agency. It would be appropriate to encourage activities to facilitate the peaceful uses of weapons surplus material as fuel for nuclear power reactors and also for harnessing spin-off technologies. Economic gains from such activities, which should be open for participation to all countries without discrimination, could be used to meet part of the costs. Such an approach would also enable us to make further progress towards sustainable development in a spirit of balance between the promotional and verification activities of the Agency thereby converting the proposed Fund to a 'Development through Disarmament" Fund.

22. As we enter the next century and the beginning of a new millennium it would be worthwhile to hark back upon the words of the founding father of the IAEA to see whether the Agency has indeed remained faithful to its original mandate. In 1956, at the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA at New York, Homi Bhabha, while recognising that the problem of safeguards is one of the most serious and complicated one facing the Agency, cautioned against the creation of a safeguards system which would be unrelated to the realities of the world we live in and which would reduce the Agency from being a positive creative force to a police body. However, those warnings have not been heeded and, unfortunately the changed orientation has overshadowed the original character of the Agency as a promoter of atomic energy. I am worried that a situation should not develop where many countries which urgently need to harness all available options of energy to improve their living conditions are hesitant to venture into this area as they feel frightened by "safety" and threatened by "safeguards". Let it not be forgotten that knowledge when stifled atrophies and the world's nuclear heritage is too precious a resource to be allowed to dissipate.

23. And this brings me to what I wish to say in conclusion. I must reiterate what I recalled at the outset of this presentation, from the report of the Senior Experts Group, that the Agency's mission should remain to be to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity. And I have also discussed how nuclear power is the centrepiece of human development because of it having become the inevitable future option for expansion of electricity generation in the developing countries of Asia and other regions of the world.

Over the last more than half a century, several nations developed nuclear technology for power generation through multiple approaches. And some of the countries which took the lead in this endeavour, especially the USA, the UK and in Europe, have as a result of saturation of their electricity generation, decelerated or halted technology development while some other countries, of which India is one, have proceeded at a steady pace in adding to nuclear power generation and are persisting with technology development programmes. Clearly, the most desirable directon for the future is to go forward in operationalising simpler innovative techchnology for lower cost and, at the same time, ever-safe nuclear power generating systems. I would like to strongly make a plea that it is in helping to pool together the expert resources of the different nuclear capable countries for succeeding with these objectives lies the Agency's role henceforth in fulfilling its mandate handed down by Article 11.

24. However, I must note here that cooperative arrangements aiming at synergistic outputs involving a limited number of countries, especially those limited to countries saturated with more than adequate power production, are unlikely to meet the key need of the hour which is to serve the best interests of countries choosing the nuclear energy option to satisfy their unfulfilled and growing electricity requirements. The IAEA must appreciate its unique position as the only international organisation, not only in the UN family but also in a global sense, to bring about the widest possible participation in, and thereby access to benefit from, wholesome intemational cooperation. The IAEA owes this to its Member States.

Thank You, Mr President