An international conference on how to secure and /or remove high-risk nuclear and other radioactive material will be held on 18-19 September 2004, at the Austria Center of Vienna, just prior to the 48th IAEA General Conference Meeting. The conference aims to build international support for the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and agree to mitigate this threat.

The conference will focus on the Global Threat Reduction Initiative with an explanation of key activities and recent achievements, and other currently impending issues. It is noted that among several goals of this initiative, one will be to minimize and eventually eliminate reliance on high enriched uranium (HEU) in the civilian fuel cycle and the conversion of civil research and test reactors worldwide to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel. It is also noted that in RCA region, a total of 75 research reactors are in operation while 5 new projects are actively ongoing.

For further information: Ms J Zellinger at J.Zellinger@iaea.org