Our session this morning is also sponsored by the Embassy of Sweden and the American Bar Association Section of International Law Task Force on Nuclear Nonproliferation. Telephone: +43 (1) 2600-0, Facsimile +43 (1) 2600-7, © 1998–2020 IAEA, All rights reserved. Blix was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1981 to 1997, and was the head of U.N. inspectors in Iraq from 2000 to 2003. In 2004, Blix published a book, Disarming Iraq, where he gives his account of the events and inspections before the coalition began its invasion. In 2009 Blix joined the project Soldiers of Peace, an anti-war film. "[7], Blix's statements about the Iraq WMD program came to contradict the claims of the George W. Bush administration,[8] and attracted a great deal of criticism from supporters of the invasion of Iraq. Xecixifil. Frankly, it is not the waste from existing or expanded use of nuclear power that threatens our planet. Blix's even-handed approach and warm human mode of communication develops such immense respect that during his conversations with fellows you could hear a pin drop. There was a time, in the early atomic age, when nuclear-generated electricity was expected to be “too cheap to meter” — that it would be more effective, in other words, to provide it for free than to charge. As an administrator he convened major conferences on the accident and international conventions on how nations should notify and assist each other during nuclear accidents. Statement. 2:41 [Discours de Hans Blix à l'ONU] INA. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our, Blix was the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency from 1981 to 1997, and was the h. ead of U.N. inspectors in Iraq from 2000 to 2003. Blix was also the head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003, when he was succeeded by Dimitris Perrikos. Iraq was alternately praised and admonished by the IAEA for its cooperation and lack thereof. To satisfy the energy needs of a world demanding vastly more electricity for industry, cars and trains, desalination and digitalization, increased efficiency in the use of energy is valuable but not enough. "A Q Khan did not act alone says Hans Blix team", "Hans Blix — The Cast — Soldiers of Peace", "Hans Blix heads UAE's nuclear advisory group", "Blix to Advise United Arab Emirates on Nuclear Program", "Nuke-hunter Blix awarded Sydney Peace Prize", "THE JOURNALISM PRIZE "Archivio Disarmo Golden Doves for Peace, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hans_Blix&oldid=983365802, Directors General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Swedish expatriates in the United Kingdom, CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown, Pages using infobox officeholder with unknown parameters, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Gold Medal for distinguished service in the field of nuclear affairs by the Uranium Institute (now, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 20:48. According to a 2011 study, taken on average over the lifetime of an energy plant, the burning of coal results in 979 tons of carbon-dioxide (per gigawatt hour) entering the atmosphere. 7 October 1997 Keynote Address at the International Seminar on the Role of Export Controls in Nuclear Non-Proliferation. Kim Jong Il in Team America - Hans Blix. He has been one of the most prominent members of the international committee dealing with the control of weapons of mass destruction. Hans Blix: A diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis could also prompt a calmer dialogue over Tehran's nuclear programme Published: 18 Sep 2013 Published: 18 Sep 2013 We must arrive at a similar acceptance of nuclear power. 9:03. While this mission is certainly to serve the collectively of its members, it is also one that, in my view, serves the international community. He leads the nine-person board, which meets twice a year. To find out more check our cookies and privacy policy. Kofi Annan originally recommended Rolf Ekéus, who worked with UNSCOM in the past, but Russia and France vetoed his appointment. The International Advisory Board (IAB) oversees progress of the nation's nuclear energy plan and issue reports on potential improvements to the scheme. However, getting rid of technically sound carbon dioxide-free nuclear power plants, to replace them with carbon dioxide-free wind and solar plants, does not make environmental sense. Radiation is a force that can be destructive and dangerous if not used prudently, but it can also be tamed and used to our benefit. Hans Blix appelle à ne pas répéter l'erreur de l'Irak en Iran. On the other hand, the waste of fossil fuels, especially carbon dioxide, is so huge that (despite much experimenting) we do not know how to handle it. We accept radiation in nuclear medicine, to combat cancer for instance. It now counts 35,000 members in over 100 countries. Ultimately, U.S. troops found no active manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction, but found roughly 5,000 chemical warheads, shells, or aviation bombs that had been manufactured prior to 1991. To use nuclear power and generate radioactive waste, environmentalists argued, was like taking off in an airplane without knowing where to land. Al Jazeera English. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media."[11]. As a result, our oceans are warming and extreme climate events are becoming more common. What are we now to fear most: a gram of plutonium escaping from a deep underground waste disposal site, perhaps in ten thousand years, or billions of tons of carbon-dioxide released from burnt fossil fuels in our time? It was only after the first Gulf War that the full extent of Iraq's nuclear programs, which had switched from a plutonium based weapon design to a highly enriched uranium design after the destruction of Osiraq, became known. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Blix chairs a panel of advisors who oversee the establishment of the UAE's Dh150 billion atomic energy programme. In an interview on BBC 1 on 8 February 2004, Blix accused the US and British governments of dramatizing the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, in order to strengthen the case for the 2003 war against the government of Saddam Hussein. He comes from a family of Jamtlandic origin. Between 1962 and 1978 Blix was a member of the Swedish delegation at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. [12][13], Blix said he suspected his home and office were bugged by the United States, while he led teams searching for Saddam Hussein's supposed weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Hans Blix of Sweden, IAEA Director General from 1981 to 1997, guided the Agency through the Chernobyl disaster, revelations of a clandestine nuclear weapons programme in Iraq and the DPRK's safeguards violations. In the end, it did not exactly turn out that way. Our children are more aware of these changes than we adults are: later this week, on March 15, young people will walk out of their schools in more than 30 countries to protest the scars we are carving into their futures. Can we responsibly continue to rely on nuclear power after the big accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima? "[6], In 2004 Blix gave a statement that "there were about 700 inspections, and in no case did we find weapons of mass destruction. It has been a smart but facile message, and we should be grateful that the world’s two most populous countries — China and India — are fast expanding their use of nuclear power as well as of renewables. But the catastrophe of Iraq has served to underline the importance of the UN and international inspection. The call for “renewable energy sources” excludes fossil fuels, but it also excludes nuclear power, which is based on non-renewable uranium resources. Moving into his 90th year, Hans Blix has already had two attempts at retirement and now says he has given up on the idea. By contrast, we burn coal and gas at industrial scale to make electricity, pumping carbon dioxide and other noxious chemicals into our atmosphere. For young leaders in the industry he has lent his support and expertise to the World Nuclear University (WNU) as its chancellor since its founding in 2003. [1] In 1959, he earned a Juris Doctor in International Law at Stockholm University, where he was appointed Associate Professor in International Law the next year. In a 2015 interview with 52-Insights, Blix said, "I am passionately interested in nuclear energy and its connection with the environment. Nuclear power has never been cheap and today it struggles to be competitive on purely economic grounds with electricity generated by burning natural gas — especially from fracking in the United States. Those were three grave accidents, yes, but accidents in any industry, whether nuclear, aviation or others, lead also to new, safer designs and dedication to safety culture. During the Iraq disarmament crisis before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Blix was called back from retirement by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to lead the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in charge of monitoring Iraq. We can be glad, because his example of calm adherence to rules-based systems of governance, balanced with critical thinking and personal integrity remains as important as ever. 0:55. We accept the radiation of spices to kill pathogens. Parties listening keenly to Hans Blix today include the UAE's forthcoming nuclear programme, for which he chairs an international council of advisors. However, the story is very different if we see emissions of greenhouse gases as a cost in themselves. The Institute for Public Accuracy, 24 April 2002, "Chemical Weapons Agency 'Coup'"? But before we succeed in these and other exciting projects we need to be rational and practical and make full use of nuclear power, before the world becomes uninhabitable for our children. All rights reserved. Celebrating his birthday today, Hans Blix can look back on a professional life spanning the entire history of nuclear energy as a source of electricity. I'm convinced that nuclear power has a potentially vast role, though we have not yet succeeded in allaying people's fear of radiation. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs (1978–1979) and later became the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Celebrating his birthday today, Hans Blix can look back on a professional life spanning the entire history of nuclear energy as a source of electricity. So, energy and the environment are focal points and I've worked at improving peaceful relations and developing international law for that purpose.". A satellite view of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant after a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused a nuclear meltdown on March 14, 2011 in Futaba, Japan. info); born 28 June 1928) is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party.