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Arab countries demand more safety regulations on nuclear facilities

VIENNA, June 16 (KUNA) -- Arab countries are expected to demand more safety regulations on all nuclear facilities worldwide, particularly in the Middle East, at the upcoming International Nuclear Safety Conference.
Sources at International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told KUNA that Arab energy and power ministers will attend the ministerial conference that will be held at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Monday.
The five-day conference will focus on reconsidering the currently applied nuclear safety rules at nuclear reactors to avoid disasters such as the one that occurred in Japan's Fukushima plant, in March.
Arab delegations will shed light on the Dimona reactor in Israel and how it has been over looked by any of IAEA inspections or regulations for many years. They will stress that nuclear safety rules should be applied on such neglected plant.
A massive earthquake and tsunami in March crippled the Japanese nuclear power plant of Fukushima and sparked calls for tougher global safety measures and prompting some governments to reconsider their nuclear energy strategies.
Therefore, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano invited members of the IAEA last month to attend this nuclear safety conference to give a bigger attention to nuclear safety rules and promote transparency in exchanging information on nuclear accidents. (end) amq.nfm KUNA 161137 Jun 11NNNN