VZCZCXYZ0008
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHC #9385 2960516
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221914Z OCT 09
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 8286-8287
INFO RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA IMMEDIATE 5637-5638

UNCLAS STATE 109385 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG UNGA
SUBJECT: UNGA: GUIDANCE FOR UNSCEAR RESOLUTION FOR 64TH 
UNGA 
 
¶1. (U) This is an action request, see paragraph 3. 
 
¶2. (U) SUMMARY: The UN General Assembly will consider its 
annual UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic 
Radiation (UNSCEAR) resolution on Thursday, October 22, 2009, 
in New York.  The resolution is expected to be adopted by 
consensus. 
 
¶3. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: USUN is authorized to join consensus 
on the adoption of the UNSCEAR resolution, entitled "Effects 
of Atomic Radiation."  The full text of the resolution is 
included in paragraph 4 below.  Should other Member States 
propose substantive amendments to the current text, USUN 
should seek further guidance from Washington. 
 
¶4. (U) BEGIN TEXT OF THE RESOLUTION: 
 
 
The General Assembly, 
Recalling its resolution 913 (X) of 3 December 1955, by which 
it established the United Nations Scientific Committee on the 
Effects of Atomic Radiation, and its subsequent resolutions 
on the subject, including resolution 63/89 of 5 December 
2008, in which, inter alia, it requested the Scientific 
Committee to continue its work, 
Taking note with appreciation of the work of the Scientific 
Committee, and noting the letter from its Chairman to the 
President of the General Assembly A/64/223., 
Reaffirming the desirability of the Scientific Committee 
continuing its work, 
Concerned about the potentially harmful effects on present 
and future generations resulting from the levels of radiation 
to which mankind and the environment are exposed, 
Conscious of the continuing need to examine and compile 
information about atomic and ionizing radiation and to 
analyse its effects on mankind and the environment, and 
conscious also of the increased volume, complexity and 
diversity of that information, 
Noting the views expressed by Member States at its 
sixty-fourth session with regard to the work of the 
Scientific Committee, 
Emphasizing the vital need for sustainable, appropriate and 
predictable resourcing, as well as efficient management, of 
the Secretariat,s work to arrange the annual sessions and 
coordinate the development of documents based on scientific 
reviews from Member States of the sources of ionizing 
radiation and its effects on human health and the 
environment, 
Recalling the deep concern of the Scientific Committee 
expressed in the report on its fifty-fifth session that 
reliance on a single post at the Professional level in its 
secretariat had left the Committee seriously vulnerable and 
had hampered the efficient implementation of its approved 
programme of work Official Records of the General Assembly, 
Sixty-Third Session, Supplement No. 46 (A/63/46) 
Recalling the comprehensive report of the Secretary-General 
A/63/478. on the financial and administrative implications of 
increased membership of the Committee, staffing of its 
professional secretariat and methods to ensure sufficient, 
assured and predictable funding, and 
Recalling its request of the Secretary-General, in 
formulating his proposed programme budget for the biennium 
2010)2011, to consider all options, including the 
possibility of internal reallocation, to provide the 
Scientific Committee with the resources outlined in 
paragraphs 48 to 50 of the Secretary-General,s report, 
(A/63/89, op 16) 
Commends the United Nations Scientific Committee on the 
Effects of Atomic Radiation for the valuable contribution it 
has been making in the course of the past fifty-four years, 
since its inception, to wider knowledge and understanding of 
the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation, and for 
fulfilling its original mandate with scientific authority and 
independence of judgement; 
Reaffirms the decision to maintain the present functions and 
independent role of the Scientific Committee; 
Requests the Scientific Committee to continue its work, 
including its important activities to increase knowledge of 
the levels, effects and risks of ionizing radiation from all 
sources; 
Endorses the intentions and plans, including those outlined 
in the Chairman,s letter to the President of the General 
Assembly A/64/223, for conducting the present programme of 
work of scientific review and assessment of the Scientific 
Committee on behalf of the General Assembly, encourages the 
Committee at its earliest convenience to submit these reports 
(which include assessments of levels of radiation from energy 
production and the effects on human health and the 
environment, and on the attribution of health effects due to 
radiation exposure), and to initiate as far as possible work 
on the remaining previously endorsed topics, and requests the 
Committee to submit plans for its future programme of work to 
the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session; 
Requests the Scientific Committee to continue at its next 
session the review of the important questions in the field of 
ionizing radiation and to report thereon to the General 
Assembly at its sixty-fifth session; 
Reemphasizes the need for the Scientific Committee to hold 
regular sessions on an annual basis so that its report can 
reflect the latest developments and findings in the field of 
ionizing radiation and thereby provide updated information 
for dissemination among all States; 
Expresses its appreciation for the assistance rendered to the 
Scientific Committee by Member States, the specialized 
agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency and 
non-governmental organizations, and invites them to increase 
their cooperation in this field; 
Invites the Scientific Committee to continue its 
consultations with scientists and experts from interested 
Member States in the process of preparing its future 
scientific reports, and requests the Secretariat to 
facilitate such consultations; 
Welcomes, in this context, the readiness of Member States to 
provide the Scientific Committee with relevant information on 
the effects of ionizing radiation in affected areas, and 
invites the Committee to analyse and give due consideration 
to such information, particularly in the light of its own 
findings; 
Invites Member States, the organizations of the United 
Nations system and non-governmental organizations concerned 
to provide further relevant data about doses, effects and 
risks from various sources of radiation, which would greatly 
help in the preparation of future reports of the Scientific 
Committee to the General Assembly; 
Requests the United Nations Environment Programme to continue 
providing support for the effective conduct of the work of 
the Scientific Committee and for the dissemination of its 
findings to the General Assembly, the scientific community 
and the public; 
Urges the United Nations Environment Programme to continue to 
review and strengthen the funding of the Scientific 
Committee, pursuant to paragraph 13 of resolution 63/89, and 
to continue to seek out and consider temporary funding 
mechanisms to complement existing ones, and, in that context, 
encourages Member States to consider making voluntary 
contributions to the general trust fund established by the 
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment 
Programme to receive and manage voluntary contributions to 
support the work of the Committee; 
Reminds the Scientific Committee, as directed in paragraph 17 
of resolution 63/89, to continue its reflection on how the 
current, as well as a potentially revised, membership for the 
Scientific Committee could best support the essential work of 
the Committee, including by developing, with the 
participation of the observer countries, detailed, objective 
and transparent criteria and indicators to be applied 
equitably to present and future members alike, and to report 
its conclusions by the end of June 2010, 
Welcomes the attendance of Belarus, Finland, Pakistan, the 
Republic of Korea, Spain and Ukraine as observers at the 
fifty-sixth session of the Scientific Committee, invites each 
of those States to designate one scientist to attend, as 
observers, the fifty-seventh session of the Committee, and 
resolves to take a decision on the membership of the 
Scientific Committee, including of these six countries, once 
a decision on resource allocation has been made, and after 
UNSCEAR,s 57th Session, but no later than the end of the 
sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly 
CLINTON