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- The
NPT, under which most safeguards agreements with the IAEA are concluded,
is indefinitely
extended in
May at the Review
and Extension Conference in New York. Although Parties do not
agree
on a
Final Declaration,
they adopt a set of principles,
including steps for action.
- The
IAEA officially launches its public website, called World Atom,
the forerunner of today’s
award-winning
IAEA.org site.
- The
IAEA Board approves certain measures to strengthen
safeguards under the “93+2” programme, including broader
inspector rights of access.
- Shortly
after the NPT Conference, China conducts a nuclear test, and France,
in line with
its stated intention to sign the test ban treaty, announces
its “final” series of nuclear tests in
the South Pacific. IAEA
Member States express
grave concern at resumption of testing.
France asks the Agency
to conduct a radiological study of the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls
once the tests have been completed.
- New
disclosures emerge concerning Iraq’s former secret nuclear programme,
following
information provided by a high-level defector, Iraqi Gen. Hussein
Kamel. Revelations include
that Iraq had embarked on a “crash” nuclear-weapon
programme in 1990-91 but that plans
were thwarted for technical and other
reasons. Withheld documents and data are received
by IAEA
Iraq inspectors for examination.
- The
IAEA agrees to the radiological
study of the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls.
The Marshall
Islands asks the IAEA to review the radiological conditions at Bikini
Atoll, former site
of nuclear testing by the USA.
- New
nuclear-weapon-free-zone treaties take shape in Africa (the Pelindaba
Treaty), and in
Southeast Asia (the Bangkok
Treaty).
- The
scientific world marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of X
rays
on 28 December 1895 by German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen.
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