VIENNA, Sept 13 (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic agency’s
35-nation board adopted an action plan on Tuesday to strengthen
global nuclear safety following Japan’s Fukushima accident six
months ago, despite criticism from several states that the
proposals had been watered down.

The board of governors approved by consensus the eight-page
document put forward by Director General Yukiya Amano of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), setting out a series
of voluntary steps meant to enhance standards worldwide.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic agency chief defended on Monday his proposals to boost global nuclear safety against criticism that they had been watered down, insisting the measures would help lead to a significant improvement in standards.

Japan’s Fukushima reactor disaster six months ago spurred a rethink about nuclear energy worldwide and calls for more concerted measures, including beefed-up safety checks of reactors, to make sure such an accident does not recur.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Syria has offered to cooperate with a U.N. nuclear watchdog probe into a suspected reactor site after years of stonewalling, and a meeting on the issue has been proposed for October, the Vienna-based agency’s head said on Monday.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said he was hoping to get “full information” about the desert site of Dair Alzour, which was bombed by Israel in 2007.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The head of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog said he was increasingly concerned on Monday about possible activity in Iran to develop a nuclear missile and accused Tehran of failing to cooperate fully with his inspectors.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the IAEA’s 35-nation board he hoped to “set out in greater detail the basis for the agency’s concerns so that all member states are fully informed.”

VIENNA (Reuters) – North Korea has “good technical reasons” to carry out at least one more atomic test if it wants to develop a nuclear-armed missile, a prominent U.S. scientist who has often visited the reclusive Asian state said on Friday.

The North tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, but still has not shown it has a working nuclear bomb.

VIENNA (Reuters) – North Korea has “good technical reasons” to carry out at least one more atomic test if it wants to develop a nuclear-armed missile, a prominent U.S. scientist who has often visited the reclusive Asian state said on Friday.

The North tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, but still has not shown it has a working nuclear bomb.

VIENNA, Sept 8 (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic agency’s
35-nation governing board is expected next week to endorse steps
to boost global nuclear safety in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima
crisis, even though some disappointed diplomats say the
proposals have been watered down.

Japan’s reactor disaster six months ago spurred a rethink
about nuclear energy worldwide and calls for more concerted
measures, including beefed-up safety checks of reactors, to make
sure such an accident does not recur.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran is making headway toward rolling out advanced uranium enrichment machines that could speed up its production of nuclear reactor fuel as well as weapons-grade material if, as the West fears, it ultimately tries to assemble atomic bombs.

But it remains unclear whether Tehran, under increasingly strict international sanctions that crimp its ability to import key components, can manufacture the machines in industrial-scale numbers that would revolutionize its enrichment activity.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear agency has invited its members — including Israel, Arab states and Iran — to attend rare talks later this year about the volatile Middle East and efforts to rid the world of atomic bombs, it said on Friday.

While Israel and some Arab nations have indicated readiness to take part in the planned forum in Vienna in November, Iran said it saw no justification for such a meeting now.