IAEA Director General Amano Keynotes CNS Anniversary

June 22, 2015

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano

At the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano delivered the keynote address to the gathering of approximately ninety diplomats, international civil servants, CNS alumni, and other guests. Ambassador Amano recalled his days as a diplomat-in-residence at CNS in 2002 and his long friendship with CNS Founding Director William Potter. Austrian Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, US Ambassador Laura Kennedy, Ms. Elena Sokova, Mr. Jean duPreez, and Ms. Jenni Rissanen also made remarks at the June 16 gathering in Vienna, expressing their admiration and appreciation of the work of CNS, including its Vienna office, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP). Ms. Laura Rockwood, who recently assumed the post of VCDNP executive director, acted as master of ceremonies for the event.

The following proposal by Ambassador Kmentt was adopted without a vote by all assembled: “The Vienna Center has developed a comprehensive and balanced Programme of Work during the last Review Cycle [of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] across all pillars […]. The work of the Center is based on the principle of undiminished academic expertise and excellence and the maintenance of strategic vision and the general and complete satisfaction—not only to the Austrian Foreign Ministry but also the diplomatic community engaged in our crucial disarmament and nonproliferation work.”