Non-proliferation integral to development, IAEA told.

• Position: UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali addresses General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, week of September 27 to October 1, 1993 - Includes related article on effort to investigate North Korea's nuclear weapons activities

Non-proliferation and disarmament are "integral to development and progress, and central to international peace", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said in a message to the thirty-seventh session (27 September-1 October, Vienna) of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

With the end of the cold war, a "new level of cooperation" was now possible, he noted. But "new threats and new challenges" had also arisen, as international concern had "turned anxiously" towards ensuring the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

At a time when substantial disarmament was finally beginning to occur, there could be "no justification for any State, anywhere, to acquire the tools and technologies of mass destruction", the message said.

The international community must remain steadfast in insisting on compliance with the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Iraq's "secret and extensive efforts" to develop nuclear weapons must serve as both a "warning against complacency" and an indication of the world community's resolve to ensure compliance, he said.

The threat on the part of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to withdraw from the NPT and its refusal to comply with its obligations provided "further warning", the Secretary-General indicated. Failure to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons would have far-reaching consequences, potentially "setting off a chain reaction" in their proliferation, he said, All that demonstrated that the NPT - especially its verification and safeguards arrangements - should be strengthened.

Three "unfinished items" remained "high on the international security agenda", the Secretary-General stated. First, the NPT must be extended "indefinitely and unconditionally" at the 1995 review conference.

Second, the de facto moratoria on nuclear testing by nuclear-weapon States must be maintained and a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty concluded at an early date.

Third, with the momentum gained from reductions in nuclear arsenals, the world community must work towards "a complete cut-off" in the production of fissile material for weapons purposes.

In addition to traditional concerns over disarmament and nonproliferation, increased attention must be given to other aspects of the Agency's mandate, including ensuring the safe storage and disposal of fissile materials, especially those recovered from dismantled warheads; enhancing the safety of nuclear...