IAEA official visits Pakistan to review nuclear safeguard measures

ISLAMABAD: A top official of the global nuclear watchdog has visited Pakistan to review the nuclear safeguard measures in the country.

International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA) Deputy Director General (Safeguards) Tero Varjoranta held talks with Pakistani officials over the implementation of the safeguard agreement, the Foreign Office said in a statement last night.

"The DDG appreciated Pakistan-IAEA cooperation and conveyed the agency's satisfaction at implementation of safeguard measures by Pakistan," it said.

It said the IAEA's safeguards system is a set of technical measures by which the IAEA secretariat independently verifies the genuineness of the declarations made by the member countries about their nuclear material and activities.

The statement said Pakistan has been operating nuclear power plants under the IAEA safeguards for over 40 years.

Pakistan plans to increase nuclear power generation and setting up new nuclear power plants.