Distinguished Speaker Series: Address by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General, Yukiya Amano

When Yukiya Amano became Director General of the IAEA three years ago, the talk was of a nuclear renaissance. The Fukushima Daiichi accident in March 2011 put this vision into serious question. Eighteen months later, the demand for nuclear energy nevertheless continues, especially in Asia. This will be the Director General’s only public address in Australia. Please join us for a rare opportunity to hear at first hand, from its most senior official, the IAEA’s perspective on the future of nuclear energy and the Agency’s role in supporting secure, safe and peaceful nuclear development. The IAEA, an intergovernmental organisation based in Vienna, is the global centre for cooperation in nuclear applications, energy, science and technology. Established in 1957, the Agency works with its Member States and partners to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies and to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Prior to becoming the IAEA Director General on 1 December 2009, Mr Amano served as Chair of the Agency’s Board of Governors from September 2005 to September 2006. He was Japan’s Resident Representative to the Agency from 2005 until his election as Director General in July 2009. He has extensive experience in disarmament and non-proliferation diplomacy, as well as nuclear energy issues, in senior positions in Tokyo and as a governmental representative on senior advisory panels to the UN and at successive Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conferences. A graduate of the Tokyo University Faculty of Law, Mr Amano joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in April 1972, when he began a series of international postings in Belgium, France, Laos, Switzerland, and the United States.