Nuclear threat 'imminent' says Nobel Prize winner

Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency were accepting the Nobel Peace Prize today at a time when fears of nuclear attacks, possibly by terrorists, were as great as ever.

The award, being presented at a ceremony in Oslo, in part marks the 60th anniversary of 1945 atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan.

Six decades later and 15 years after the end of the Cold War, the threat of nuclear nightmares remains strong, especially with terrorists actively seeking atomic weapons, ElBaradei said at a news conference yesterday.

“The threat is imminent,” he said.

The five-member Norwegian awards committee selected the 63-year-old Egyptian and the agency he leads for the prize in recognition of their drive to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and keep them out of the hands of terror groups.

“At a time when disarmament efforts appear deadlocked, when there is a danger that nuclear arms will spread both to states and to terrorist groups, and when nuclear power again appears to be playing an increasingly significant role, IAEA’s work is of incalculable importance,” the committee said in the citation issued in October when the decision on the award’s recipient was announced.

Meanwhile, the IAEA and much of the world community are now at odds with Iran over its nuclear program. They also suspect that North Korea may be developing nuclear weapons and fear that terrorist groups could be closing in on nuclear materials.

At his news conference, ElBaradei said he hoped to see Iran step up its cooperation with the agency, based in Vienna, Austria, so that an agreement can be reached within the next few months without, for example, having to take the matter to the UN Security Council to seek sanctions.

“And of course there is the horrible idea of nuclear terrorism,” he said.