Conference on safety and security opens in Moscow

Nuclear regulators from an array of countries gathered in Moscow Monday for a conference on international cooperation in improving safety and security. The conference is sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but is not connected to the dispute between the agency and Iran over Tehran 's nuclear program, which Russia is playing a key role in trying to resolve. Several Iranian officials have registered for the conference.

Photo: Conference on safety and security opens in Moscow

The conference, which opens Tuesday, aims at improving coordination both in nuclear safety, the prevention of radioactive contamination from nuclear power plants, and on security issues such as preventing theft of nuclear materials and possible attacks on plants.

Those issues historically have been dealt with on a national level by individual countries, but interest in international coordination has increased following the 1986 Chernobyl explosion and fire and the Sept. 11 attacks that raised concerns about large-scale terrorism, IAEA Deputy Director Tomihiro Taniguchi told reporters Monday, reports the AP.

N.U.