VIENNA (Reuters) – The watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency is “increasingly concerned” about possible work in Iran to develop a nuclear payload for a missile, the IAEA said in a confidential report obtained by Reuters on Friday.

In addition to addressing the issue of alleged military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program, the report said Tehran had begun installing machines for higher-grade uranium enrichment in an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear agency has invited all 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, a document showed on Friday.

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

VIENNA (Reuters) – An Iranian effort to show increased openness about its disputed nuclear program is doing little to dispel Western suspicions about Tehran’s atomic ambitions, with one Vienna-based envoy dismissing it as a “charm offensive.”

Diplomats accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said they believed it would once again highlight concerns about possible military aspects to Iran’s atomic work in its next quarterly report, due to be submitted to member states in coming days.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Countries with atomic power plants would be encouraged to host international safety review missions, under a draft U.N. action plan that may disappoint those who had hoped for strong measures to prevent a repeat of Japan’s nuclear crisis.

Seeking the middle ground between states advocating more binding global rules and others wanting to keep safety as a strictly national responsibility, the U.N. nuclear agency appears to have gradually watered down its own proposals.

VIENNA (Reuters) – A research center near Tripoli has stocks of nuclear material that could be used to make a “dirty bomb,” a former senior U.N. inspector said on Wednesday, warning of possible looting during turmoil in Libya.

Seeking to mend ties with the West, Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi agreed in 2003 to abandon efforts to acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons — a move that brought him in from the cold and helped end decades of Libyan isolation.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran allowed a senior U.N. nuclear inspector rare access to a facility for developing advanced uranium enrichment machines during a tour of all of the country’s main atomic sites, an Iranian envoy said on Tuesday.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last week’s visit to Iranian nuclear facilities by IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts showed Tehran’s “100 percent transparency and openness.”

VIENNA, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Iran allowed a senior U.N. nuclear inspector to visit a facility for developing advanced uranium enrichment machines during a rare tour of all of the country’s main atomic sites, an Iranian envoy said on Tuesday.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said last week’s visit to Iranian nuclear facilities by IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts showed Tehran’s “100 percent transparency and openness”.

VIENNA, Aug 23 (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic agency wants to
carry out at least one safety check mission in each country with
nuclear power in the coming three years under proposals aimed at
preventing any repeat of Japan’s nuclear crisis.

The draft document from the International Atomic Energy
Agency, a revised version of a plan presented to IAEA member
states this month, outlined a series of steps to help boost
global nuclear safety after the Fukushima accident in March.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Planned steps to boost global nuclear safety after Japan’s Fukushima disaster will not lead to any major increase in costs for reactor operators, the U.N. atomic energy chief says.

“It is true there is additional cost. For private companies spending more is always difficult. But that is not an enormous amount of money,” Yukiya Amano told Reuters, in comments that may help to reassure nuclear power firms.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Planned steps to boost global nuclear safety after Japan’s Fukushima disaster will not lead to any major increase in costs for reactor operators, the U.N. atomic energy chief says.

“It is true there is additional cost. For private companies spending more is always difficult. But that is not an enormous amount of money,” Yukiya Amano told Reuters, in comments that may help to reassure nuclear power firms.