ALGIERS, Algeria, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. atomic watchdog agency will encourage the use of radiation technology in order to promote development in Africa.
Announced Wednesday, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency plan will support U.N. Millennium Development Goals, in the fields of groundwater management, pest control, human health, and energy production, said IAEA Director-General Mohammad ElBaradei on an official trip to Algeria.
The MDGs seek to address poverty, disease, education, environmental stability and health care by 2015.
ElBaradei said the use of isotope hydrology will be used to manage water, employing isotopic dating to determine the availability and origins of underground water.
In addition, the IAEA will encourage pest control through a sterile insect technique, which uses radiation to sterilize healthy insects to eradicate pest populations to protect food supplies.
In the field of human health, the IAEA said it will assist countries with isotopic and nuclear techniques in order to assess those affected by diseases and to monitor drug resistance.
In energy production, the IAEA says it will continue to help states use nuclear technologies efficiently.
"Capacity building in science and technology is a prerequisite for addressing national and global challenges associated with basic human needs," ElBaradei said.
