Director Of The IAEA: Al-Tuwaitha Is Now A Path Full Of Hope, And We Have Begun A Plan To Enable Iraq To Use Clean Energy

Baghdad / NINA /- The Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, confirmed that the agency is diagnosing the needs and working to provide all the support required by the competent Iraqi bodies to make their work successful.

Grossi said, in a press statement, “There are pillars that we rely on in cooperation with Iraq, most notably support for the establishment of a peaceful nuclear program in Iraq, and we are keen to achieve it,” noting that “Al-Tuwaitha, which was once a source of global concern, now symbolizes a path full of hope towards a successful cure."

He added, "Turning the page on the past and cleansing Iraq of its effects are among the priorities of working with Iraq," stressing the start of developing a plan to enable Iraq to use peaceful applications of atomic energy in the fields of health, agriculture, industry, and clean energy in Iraq.

In turn, the Director of the Radiation Protection Center, Sabah Al-Husseini, confirmed that the specialized technical teams, in cooperation with local governments in the governorates, made great efforts and worked around the clock and for many months to achieve the largest and most basic goal, which is declaring Iraq free from the effects of radioactive pollution. This is a major national achievement commensurate with Global standards and the principles of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He pointed out the supervisory role of the Radiation Protection Center in monitoring radioactive waste management activities throughout Iraq, and the Center’s supervisory procedures in improving the radioactive environmental reality through monitoring the activities of dismantling and liquidating the destroyed nuclear facilities affiliated with the former Iraqi nuclear program, and the Center’s procedures in limiting the spread of radioactive pollution.

He added, “The center, in coordination with the directorates of the Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission, was able to remove many radioactive pollutants with central government support,” pointing out that there are areas that are still witnessing radioactive contamination and work is underway to remove it through scientific and technical procedures, to declare Iraq free of radioactive contamination. And attention is paid to completing the file to protect the Iraqi environment and citizens from radiation, through implementing the national plan to remove radioactive contamination in Iraq, which was approved by the Council of Ministers and began to be funded in 2023./End