Nations Ok Nuclear Waste Agreement

Sixty-two nations have agreed on rules for handling nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday.

The agreement is the first international attempt to regulate used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, said the U.N. organization.

The nations voted for the agreement late Friday, according to agency spokesman Hans-Friedrich Meyer.

The agency first agreed in 1994 that international rules were needed, and negotiations lasted from July 1995 to March 1997.

The agreement will be signed when the agency holds its annual general conference Sept. 29.