Saudi cabinet approves joining agreement of the International Atomic Energy Agency

Saudi Arabia’s cabinet issued a decision to approve the accession to the agreement on the privileges and immunities of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Saudi state agency reported on Tuesday.

Saudi’s foreign minister was advised to complete the necessary legal procedures to join the agreement.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last year that Riyadh had shown a “commitment to safety for all applications and occurrence of radiation sources in the country.”

The mission recommended steps to improve relevant aspects, including “the establishment of a national strategy for radioactive waste management.”

Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 10 of last year, the first Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission was conducted in the Kingdom.

“Overall, we found that the regulatory [program] of Saudi Arabia is well established, considering that it was only established four years ago,” the statement quoted Paul Dale as saying, from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in the United Kingdom and Team Leader for the mission.