Thread by @james_acton32

.#nukecon keynote. @iaeaorg Director General @rafaelmgrossi interviewed by @CarnegieEndow president Tino Cuéllar. Fun fact: They share a name: Mariano!

.@rafaelmgrossi: Iran problem is becoming more and more “relevant” every day. (“I’m choosing a neutral word, ‘relevant.’”) #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi’s vision for IAEA: Use mandate to the full. Deal with tough problems. It’s easy to hold symposia on nuclear safety. But when a nuclear power plant is being shelled, the IAEA has to get involved. #nukecon

(The Marianos are now joking about how tweeting doesn’t solve anything. This is a hard truth.)

.@rafaelmgrossi: When going to Zaporizhzhia under fire, I was asked whether to continue or turn back. Had I said turn back, I would have had a staff coup on my hand! ;-) #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi emphasizes budgetary challenges coming from inflation. Jokes that, being from Argentina, 10% inflation doesn’t seem to bad. #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi Like it or not, nuclear weapons are a power factor. Always going to be proliferation pressures. Attraction to nuclear weapon or latency requires a nonproliferation “watchdog.” #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: IAEA even has a role to play in preventing nuclear use by preventing pretext of dirty bomb detonation being used as pretext. Organization needs strengthening. #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi on personalities needed for a future DG: personal conviction in nonproliferation. Need to bring more women and developing country experts into the field. #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: IAEA won’t politicize verification. Iran has asked IAEA to forget certain facts and accused me of blocking revival of the JCPOA (“I wish I had the power.”) Iran is a IAEA member state and deserves respect, but it must comply with its obligations. #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: If Iran answers IAEA questions, these issues will be resolved. #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: “Moved, not surprised” by visit to Zaporizhzhia. Establishing a zone around the plant is “self evident… How can you shell a nuclear power plant for god’s sake?” #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: Whatever your military objectives, legitimate or illegitimate, they won’t be advanced by attacking a nuclear power plant. [If your (illegitimate) goal is terrorizing civilians, then I beg to differ.] #nukecon

Cuéllar: Is the IAEA prepared for a world with much more nuclear power, including many microreactors?

@rafaelmgrossi: “Yes.” #nukecon

.@rafaelmgrossi: “I am fundamentally optimistic” about our nuclear future. There are challenges, but we should increase peaceful use of nuclear technology, eg Rays of Hope initiative for cancer. #nukecon