Khammar Mrabit, director of the IAEA's Office
of Nuclear Security, made the remarks at a press
briefing Mar 20 at the UN nuclear watchdog's headquarters
in Vienna, ahead of the Nuclear Security Summit
in Seoul.
"Nuclear and other radioactive materials
are still not properly secured. We have roughly
around 200 incidents per year," he said,
adding that "continuous improvement is a
must. Complacency is bad".
According to information from the IAEA's Illicit
Trafficking Database (ITDB), from 1993 to 2011,
more than 2,100 incidents of nuclear and radioactive
materials had been confirmed, of which about 400
incidents involved unauthorized possession, movement
or attempts to illegally trade or use of nuclear
and radioactive materials, reported Xinhua.
Regarding the protection against potential nuclear
terrorist activities, Mrabit said that the IAEA
provided technical support to many countries in
this regard, through the "International Physical
Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS)".
The IPPAS helps strengthen national nuclear security
system through evaluation of existing physical
protection arrangements, state's systems and arrangements
at facilities and locations.
Mrabit also mentioned that over 10,000 people
from some 120 countries have been trained by the
IAEA's support centers in 26 different areas of
nuclear security.
(IANS)
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