-As US sponsors international nuclear safeguards workshop in Monrovia
The President Pro Tempore of the Liberian Senate Albert Chie has called for an end to the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world.
Senator Chie was speaking in Monrovia on Monday at the opening of a four-day workshop on international nuclear safeguards held by co-hosted by the United States Department of Energy and Liberia’s Ministry of Lands, Mines & Energy.
The Liberian Senate President Pro Tempore said that instead of using huge resources on building and maintaining nuclear weapons, those resources should be directed towards developing agricultural equipment to produce more food to feed millions of hungry people in the world.
Liberia took the historic step of signing a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in September 2017, in line with its requirements as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), a press release from the US Embassy in Monrovia says.
This workshop is designed to raise awareness among Liberian decision makers of the importance of the nonproliferation regime and the international nuclear safeguards system, as Liberia prepares to bring those safeguards agreements into force.
Entering these safeguard agreements into force demonstrates the Government of Liberia’s commitment to the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, the nuclear nonproliferation regime, and its efforts to promote global peace and security.
Workshop participants included representatives from Liberia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, other government agencies, members of the legislature, and representatives from the health care and mining industries.