No abstract available

[en] For the world's nuclear industries, the early 1990s could be the bridge that takes them from one generation of technology and public communication into the next. The most important condition needed to gain and retain public acceptance for any evolution of nuclear technology is for the international nuclear industry to maintain an essentially perfect safety record

[en] The world's drive toward safer and cleaner development overcame some big hurdles during the past ten years, only to see more challenges arise. One major question echoed ever louder: how will governments decide to fuel and engineer the drive into the next century? At the IAEA, the far-reaching demands became the backdrop for laying a stronger legal and technical foundation to support safe, clean, and competitive nuclear energy development for countries using or thinking of using that option. Countries also sought to demonstrate more clearly how the whole range of nuclear technologies can help solve specific energy and environmental problems

[en] An expert panel of international food irradiation authorities held an International Symposium on Food Irradiation, hosted in Washington, DC this past March by the United States and jointly organized by the IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The panel identified three tasks now requiring attention: demonstration of the technology's economic feasibility, establishment of a uniform legislative framework, and securement of consumer acceptance. Toward these aims, it urged that steps be taken to broaden awareness of food irradiation's benefits, foster and accelerate the technology's commercial development for specific applications, and more sharply focus international co-operation in the field

[en] Key dates and key historical developments in the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency are outlined

[en] The article is devoted the 40th anniversary of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The chronology covering the IAEA history is outlined

[en] The year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem, or millennium bug is challenging global cooperation in new ways. If not corrected, this would cause innumerable problems. This article describes the effort and measures undertaken by IAEA aimed to solve the problem in relation to power production, electricity grids, nuclear power plants operation, safety and control, nuclear fuel cycle facilities operation

[en] The IAEA's activities regarding nuclear communication and information disclosure are treated in this paper

[en] The International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards system, its activities in the area of arms control and verification are discussed

[en] Nuclear science is among reasons why fortunes are turning. It is helping to accelerate the age-old process of plant breeding that leads to better crops. Farmers in Vietnam and other countries of Asia live in the cradle of rice cultivation. Rice farming started there thousands of years ago, when wild rice was first domesticated. From season to season, farmers improved their harvests, by selecting and saving the best seeds from the highest yielding crops in their fields. Today more modern tools and methods accelerate nature's way. Rice breeders often apply a process that includes the laboratory irradiation of seeds and plant tissue cultures - usually called induced mutation breeding - to alter plant traits and characteristics. Research yields promising lines of new crop varieties - some that tolerate drought or poor soil conditions, others that resist disease, and still others that meet quality standards for export. In Vietnam, the best are screened and selected in field trials at agricultural stations and in villages like Thanh Gia, Dong Tien, Bau Don, and Cu Chi