ISS Today: Making progress: implementing UNSCR 1540 in Africa

Ten years ago, on 28 April 2004, the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted resolution 1540, requiring governments to prevent armed, non-state actors from acquiring, proliferating and using nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Commenting on the anniversary of the resolution, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed to states and other key actors to ‘intensify their efforts to stop the proliferation of these devastating weapons.’ Ban also said that the use of poison gas in Syria was ‘an alarming reminder of the continuing threat of weapons of mass destruction.’

For the first time civil society is given a platform at the Chemical Weapons Convention

Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria

In a major coup for global civil society, non-governmental organisations – including the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) – were this week for the first time provided the opportunity to address states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Third Special Session of the Conference of the States Parties to Review the Operation of the Chemical Weapons Convention is being held from 8–19 April 2013 in The Hague. The CWC represents the world’s first multilateral disarmament agreement providing for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction within a fixed timeframe.

ISS Today: Why the IAEA Director General’s visit to South Africa matters

Noel Stott, Senior Research Fellow and Amelia Brookryk, Researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria

From 7-10 February, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, was in South Africa to meet several government ministers and undertake site visits to various facilities that use nuclear material for peaceful purposes, such as the Koeberg nuclear power plant outside Cape Town and South Africa`s first nuclear reactor - the SAFARI-1 research reactor at Pelindaba. In 2009, supported largely by industrialised nations, Amano was elected IAEA Director General, defeating South Africa`s Abdul Minty in six rounds of heavily contested voting.

Public Lecture and Seminar: The future of nuclear energy post-Fukushima

Friday 8th February, 2013

The ISS with the support of the British High Commission and Royal Norwegian Government proudly present this public lecture and seminar

The future of nuclear energy post-Fukushima

Keynote address by Mr Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)


The use of nuclear energy for electricity generation has been promoted as an important means to mitigate the impact of climate change. However, the so-called nuclear energy revival has recently taken a knock following the nuclear incident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan in March 2011, which has been described as the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. The incident resulted in several countries re-examining their nuclear programmes with some deciding to phase out nuclear power completely, and others, like South Africa, continuing with their plans to introduce or expand their nuclear infrastructure.

Yukiya Amano, as head of the IAEA, will speak on the future of nuclear energy following the Fukushima incident. The IAEA plays a key role in developing and promoting nuclear safety standards in applications of nuclear energy as well as the protection of human health and the environment against ionizing radiation. Importantly, the Agency also monitors non-compliance by states with their obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and other non-proliferation agreements to ensure that the use of nuclear materials, technology and facilities is only for peaceful purposes.

Welcome: Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director, ISS
Chair: Anton du Plessis, Deputy Executive Director, ISS
Keynote: Mr Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Respondent: Noel Stott, Senior Researcher, ISS

Event Time:
17h30 to 19h30

Event Venue:
The Indaba Hotel and Conference Centre
William Nicol Drive
Fourways
Johannesburg
www.indabahotel.co.za
Phone: +27 (0) 11 840 6600

Registration for this event it is essential and can be completed HERE

RSVP:
Ms Thobeka Mayekiso
Email: tmayekiso@issafrica.org
Tel: +27 (0) 82 839 4485

Enquiries:
Noel Stott
Email: nstott@issafrica.org
Tel: +27 (0) 82 8286070

Workshop on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) for African States

A workshop on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) for African States was held from 21-22 November 2012, at the Sheraton Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa. The workshop was hosted by the Government of South Africa in collaboration with the African Union (AU), supported by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and with the facilitation of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

All documents related to the workshop can be found here: 1540 Workshop Documents

Nuclear Security: More than Guns, Guards and Gates

Participants of the experts' workshop on
'Progress on Securing Africa's Nuclear Resources'

Amelia Broodryk, Researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria

The security of nuclear and other radioactive material and associated technologies will again be in the spotlight from 27 - 27 March 2012 at the second Nuclear Security Summit taking place in Seoul, South Korea. The summit is a follow-on meeting to the 2010 Washington Nuclear Security Summit and is one of many nuclear security-related initiatives that have emerged in the last five years focusing specifically on the challenges of securing nuclear materials, as well as the threat of nuclear terrorism.