Pakistan told the United Nations on Thursday that steps had been taken to augment the safety and security of the country’s nuclear installations and materials in order to provide energy in a safe and responsible manner.
“Revival of economy and socio-economic development of our people is the foremost priority of the Government of Pakistan. Safe and sustainable nuclear energy is essential to advance our development agenda,” Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar told a high-level meeting on nuclear safety and security.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who opened the meeting, said that Fukushima nuclear plant accident along with the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago served as a wake-up call for the world’s people.
“The effects of nuclear accidents respect no borders. To adequately safeguard our people, we must have strong international consensus and action. We must have strong international safety standards,” the UN chief told the meeting on the margins of the annual general debate of the General Assembly.
In her speech, Khar underscored the need for taking into account the differentiated nature of countries’ needs and circumstances while evolving a strengthened nuclear safety regime.
Pakistan, she said, had more than three decades of experience in safe reactor operations, backed by a professional corps of experts as well as technical and engineering infrastructure to provide technical support to our power plants.
“We are ready to assist interested states in the experience and expertise that we have gained in the area of nuclear safety under the IAEA auspice,”she said.
