Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
Located just outside Vienna, the new visitor’s centre provides a deeper understanding of nuclear science, its peaceful uses, and the IAEA’s global mission. The 33 interactive exhibits show how nuclear science drives progress in energy, medicine, food security, and industry. The centre will open to the public in early 2026.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
The Scientific Forum concluded with a discussion of the importance of partnerships and resource mobilization to water sustainability. “Science alone is not enough, we need resources and partnerships to bring nuclear solutions where they are most needed,” said Director General Grossi.
Najat Mokhtar, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, stressed the importance of implementation. She called for embracing new technologies to bridge this gap. “Let’s not waste time,” she urged; “let’s work together to use science to manage water better.”
Sustainable water management requires strong science and a robust policy framework, said Tatiana Molcean, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. In her view, combining the 2016 Water Convention framework with the IAEA’s technical tools could address the water-food-energy nexus.
Winston Yu, Water Practice Manager at the World Bank, said that globally, $165 billion is invested annually in the water sector by governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector, but trillions are needed. He agreed with María Jimena Durán from the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Lina Escobar-Rangel from the Interamerican Development Bank, that the private sector must be involved to meet the huge need for water finance. Currently the private sector contributes only two percent of global water funding.
Yu pointed to Niger’s agreement with the IAEA as a good example of how multilateral development banks can combine financing and policy engagement with IAEA expertise to help countries improve water resource management. “There is huge scope for the IAEA to work with all the development banks to bring together technologies with financing,” he said.
Water finance will be a focus at the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, according to Mohamed CBC Diatta, Senegal’s Sherpa for the conference, which he said will “harness science, multilateralism, cooperation and innovation” and build connections between sectors to help protect our most precious shared resource. Nuclear sciences have a critical role to play in building these connections and the IAEA will continue to work with countries to strengthen their capacity to use these tools to address their critical water challenges.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) today opened the doors to its newly created Visitors Centre located in its laboratory facility in Seibersdorf, Austria, a first-of-its-kind space where visitors can experience the Agency’s mission and discover how nuclear science and technology is addressing global challenges.
At the inauguration ceremony held today in the presence of IAEA Member State Ambassadors and representatives from Austrian academia, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Ambassador of Austria to the United Nations in Vienna Gabriela Sellner, officially unveiled the centre.
“This centre brings the Agency’s mission of ‘Atoms for Peace and Development’ to life for the public,” said Director General Grossi. “This new milestone for the IAEA highlights how nuclear technology drives progress in energy, medicine, food security, and industry, as well as the Agency’s role in reducing the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation.”
Located less than an hour’s drive from Vienna, the IAEA Visitor Centre offers an immersive experience that highlights the Agency’s scientific and technical mandate, exploring the application of nuclear for health, food and agriculture, water, ocean protection, cultural heritage, energy and industry.
The centre features 33 interactive exhibits with physical and digital displays that highlight the pioneering scientific work carried out at the IAEA’s laboratories in Seibersdorf, Vienna, and in Monaco. First opened in 1962 in Seibersdorf, just five years after the IAEA’s founding, the IAEA research laboratories are unique within the United Nations system and include five joint Laboratories supporting the work of FAO-IAEA Joint Centre. They serve as hubs for applied research and development, technical and analytical services, capacity-building and the advancement of innovative nuclear technologies.
“This new state-of-the-art Visitor Centre will bring the IAEA’s work to life,” Ambassador Sellner underlined today, during the opening event. “It shows how nuclear science helps tackle global challenges — from health to food and agriculture, to protecting our oceans and water. It also reflects the IAEA’s commitment to sharing knowledge and engaging with the public on the peaceful uses of nuclear science. Austria is proud to host the IAEA and its Laboratories.”
Touring the centre for the first time, the Director General described it as a dynamic and accessible experience of the IAEA’s mission for a wide range of visitors, from researchers and scientists to high school and university students with a keen interest in science and global cooperation.
“Today is more than the inauguration of a facility – it is the beginning of a new chapter in science outreach and education,” Director General Grossi added.
The centre was funded by the United States, and during today’s inauguration ceremony, Director General Grossi emphasized that it stands as a testament to international partnership and collaboration. Lucy Chang, Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the United States, and Marlene Zeidler-Beck, Member of the Landtag of Lower Austria, also spoke at the opening. More details, including registration information, are available on the IAEA Visitor Centre website.
Guided tours can extend beyond the centre itself. Depending on availability, groups may also visit the laboratories on site that focus on plant breeding, food safety, pest control, dosimetry, safeguards, nuclear security and more.
“Whether you’re a student, researcher, journalist, or someone interested in partnering with the IAEA, I invite you to explore and be inspired by the transformative power of science. Through the Agency’s global impact, we show how nuclear innovations are improving lives across every continent.”
B-roll of today’s event and footage of all speakers remarks will be available here.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
The IAEA team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) reported hearing shelling close to the site today and saw black smoke rising from three locations nearby, in the latest incident highlighting continuous nuclear safety risks during the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
The team was informed by the ZNPP that multiple artillery shells had struck an area outside the ZNPP site parameter around 400 metres from the plant’s off-site diesel fuel storage facility, also known as the diesel fuel farm. This incident is believed to have sparked fires in the affected vegetation, which are under control.
This information was in line with the team’s own observations of sporadic shelling being heard for about two hours from 1:26pm local time, including three rounds close to the site at around 2:30pm. Gunfire was also heard. Smoke from locations outside the site was later observed by the team from the ZNPP’s main administrative building. The team was not yet able to visit the area of the reported shelling but will request it tomorrow morning provided the security situation allows it.
While there were no reports of casualties or equipment damage, the incident once again underlined the constant dangers to nuclear safety and security, Director General Grossi said.
“As I told the IAEA’s General Conference yesterday, military action still endangers the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. What was once virtually unimaginable – shelling or other military activity taking place close to major nuclear facilities – has become a regular occurrence during this horrific war. I’ve repeatedly called for maximum military restraint near nuclear power plants and I do so again today. This must stop before it is too late”, Director General Grossi said.
In his statement to the General Conference, the annual gathering of the IAEA’s Member States, Director General Grossi also said that the Agency’s teams deployed at Ukraine’s other nuclear sites – Chornobyl and the Rivne, South Ukraine and Khmelnytskyy NPPs – have all reported “a significant increase in military activities in recent weeks”.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
An isotope hydrologist holds up a sample at a water laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya. Labs such as this one are now being invited to apply to join the IAEA’s Global Water Analysis Laboratory (GloWAL) Network. (Photo: K. Laffan/IAEA)
The IAEA is opening up its new water laboratory network for member applications, it was announced today.
The IAEA’s Global Water Analysis Laboratory (GloWAL) Network was first announced at the 2023 UN Water Conference, as a way to help countries bridge critical water data gaps and strengthen resource management.
After significant consultations with countries on their needs and capacities, the network is now ready to accept applications for membership from water laboratories around the world.
The call for applications was launched alongside the Scientific Forum, an event held every year on the sidelines of the IAEA General Conference, on topics of relevance to nuclear science. This year’s event, Atoms for Water, is focused on how nuclear and related techniques can help countries track and manage limited water resources better.
“The GloWAL Network exemplifies the IAEA’s dedication to empowering countries, encouraging collaboration, producing data for policymaking and promoting water’s essential contribution to peace and prosperity,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
“Today, the IAEA is inviting laboratories worldwide to apply for membership and join this global effort to improve water resource sustainability,” said Jodie Miller, Isotope Hydrology Section Head.
“The GloWAL Network is not just about data — it is about having the information to make informed decisions,” she added. “When countries can analyse their own water resources, they gain the tools to protect them.”
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer of Varian Deepak Khuntia (left) signed an agreement for the donation of a linear accelerator. (Dean Calma/IAEA)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has received a donation of a linear accelerator from Varian, a Siemens Healthineers Company, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen access to radiation medicine around the world.
Under the IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, the machine will be installed at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where it is expected to significantly expand the country’s ability to deliver timely and effective treatments for cancer patients. Linear accelerators produce high-energy beams of electrons or X-rays to target cancerous cells and tumours.
The donation builds on IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi’s visit in July to the Black Lion Hospital, where he saw firsthand the urgent need to expand access to radiotherapy. The new linear accelerator will help to address those needs, strengthening Ethiopia’s capacity to deliver life-saving cancer care and advancing the IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative across Africa.
Varian’s contribution was announced at the IAEA 69th General Conference side event — “Beyond Boundaries: The Rays of Hope Anchor Centre Network and the Future of Cancer Care” — featuring stakeholders from Member States, cancer institutes, professional organizations and the private sector.
“The donation from Varian exemplifies the transformative impact of partnering with purpose to deliver cancer care for all,” Director General Grossi said. “By working together, we are ensuring that life-saving technologies reach the communities that need them the most.”
“We are honoured to support the IAEA in its mission to expand access to life-saving cancer treatment. By donating this linear accelerator, we hope to help reduce the global disparities in cancer care and bring advanced radiotherapy to patients in low- and middle-income countries who might otherwise not have access,” said Arthur Kaindl, Head of Varian. “Every patient deserves a chance at high-quality treatment, and it is our privilege to contribute to the IAEA’s important work in building capacity, training clinicians and strengthening healthcare systems worldwide.”
In September 2023, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Director General Grossi and Siemens Healthineers CEO Bernd Montag signed a practical arrangement agreement to support low- and middle-income countries in establishing and strengthening safe and effective radiation medicine for cancer diagnosis and therapy.
Only 21 percent of the world’s countries notably met the minimum resource requirements for radiotherapy in 2022, according to data from the IAEA’s DIrectory of RAdiotherapy Centres.
“Despite progress over the past decade in expanding access to radiotherapy, an essential treatment needed for half of all cancer patients at some point, equipment shortages remain a major challenge,” explained May Abdel-Wahab, Director of the IAEA Division of Human Health and co-lead of the Lancet Oncology commission examining the global availability of radiotherapy and theranostics.
“On average, low-income countries need eight times the number of currently available machines just to reach the target of one per 500 patients while their middle-income counterparts need double the number of their available machines,” Abdel-Wahab said.
To address this disparity, the IAEA launched Rays of Hope – a comprehensive effort to enhance access to diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and medical physics.
Since 2022, the initiative has enabled life-saving care for thousands of patients in low- and middle-income countries through the establishment and expansion of radiation medicine services.
A global network of 18 Rays of Hope Anchor Centres — knowledge and capacity building hubs in Africa, the Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America — is providing targeted support to neighbouring countries across education, training, research, innovation and quality assurance.
To date, over 90 countries have requested support and more than €90 million have been mobilized by donors and partners for the initiative.
Following further coordination with national counterparts, the IAEA will transfer the linear accelerator to Black Lion Hospital in Ethiopia, where the cancer burden is projected to double to an estimated 176 000 new cases and 122 000 deaths in 2045.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
This container houses the IAEA’s new transportable electron beam system. It will be home to research and development activities on the treatment of liquid, gaseous and solid materials and to training sessions for fellows from around the world. (Photo: IAEA)
A new transportable electron beam system was launched at the IAEA today, housed in shipping containers that can be loaned out for training or experiments.
“This e-beam system is a cornerstone of our innovative approach to breaking barriers in radiation applications,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said at its inauguration event, held on the sidelines of the General Conference. “As it is transportable, we are now better equipped to assist Member States in capacity building and in accessing e-beam technology.”
Made up of two containers, painted in IAEA blue, to be housed at the IAEA laboratories at Seibersdorf, the system will be used for research and development activities, and for training in the safety aspects, operation and proper use of e-beam irradiation, and for demonstrations.
Countries will be able to send personnel for training events at Seibersdorf. The e-beam system will also be available to go on loan to countries for specific experiments and to explore how radiation technology can help achieve their development goals.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
Our economies, our food and our environment all depend up on it, yet its quality is declining, and supply is uneven. Water is the focus of the IAEA’s Scientific Forum this year because studying water at an atomic level and using innovative nuclear techniques can help us manage our water resources globally, making sure clean water supplies are equally and fairly distributed in the years to come.
The IAEA 2025 Scientific Forum aims to showcase innovative ways of using nuclear sciences, not only to better understand the origin, amount, distribution and quality of our shared water resources, but also to support and implement practical solutions. It will enable attendees to foster partnerships and reflect on the importance of water as a global common good to be managed sustainably and equitably for all. It will also help mobilize resources to support the adoption of nuclear methods and approaches that ensure global water sustainability.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
The Republic of Slovakia’s Resident Representative has been elected as the President of the IAEA’s 69th General Conference.
The General Conference elects a President at the beginning of each annual session, following consultations among Member States before the conference. The President holds office for the duration of the conference. Last year, the position was held by the Republic of Korea’s Sang Wook Ham.
Peter Burian was appointed as the Slovak Republic’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international organizations in Vienna in 2023, following extensive service with Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Burian is also currently serving as the President of the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). He previously served as Slovakia’s Ambassador-at-large for Human Rights from 2021 to 2023, and as the European Union Representative for Central Asia from 2015 to 2021. As State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia from 2012 to 2015, he was responsible for areas of security policy, economic diplomacy, development cooperation, international organizations and cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries.
Other senior posts Burian has held include Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the United States from 2008 to 2012, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations in New York from 2004 to 2008, Permanent Representative of Slovakia in the UN Security Council from 2006 to 2007, and Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Western European Union from 1999 to 2003.
In the course of his career, Burian has received several awards and medals of honour for his service and for promoting international cooperation. He is a graduate of St. Petersburg University’s School of Oriental Studies and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Slovakia’s Comenius University.
Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –
Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant (Photo: Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Türkiye, 2025)
For the fifth year in a row, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has revised up its projections for the expansion of nuclear power, as global momentum continues to build behind this clean and secure source of energy. In the high case projection, the IAEA estimates that global nuclear operational capacity will more than double by 2050 – reaching 2.6 times the 2024 level – with small modular reactors (SMRs) expected to play a pivotal role in this expansion.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050, today at the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.
At the end of 2024, 417 nuclear power reactors were operational, with a global capacity of 377 gigawatts electric (GW(e). In the high case projection, nuclear electrical generating capacity is projected to increase to 992 GW(e) by 2050. In the low case projection, capacity rises 50% to 561 GW(e), compared with 2024. SMRs are projected to account for 24% of the new capacity added in the high case and for 5% in the low case.
In 2021, the IAEA revised up its annual projections for the first time since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station accident in 2011. Since then, the projection for the high case has increased by 25%, from 792 GW(e) in 2021
“The IAEA’s steadily rising annual projections underscore a growing global consensus: nuclear power is indispensable for achieving clean, reliable and sustainable energy for all,” Director General Grossi said.
Assumptions and considerations
All operating reactors, possible licence renewals, planned shutdowns, power uprates to increase output levels, and plausible and ongoing construction projects foreseen for the next few decades were considered in the projections. The assumptions of the low case projections are that current market, technology and resource trends continue and that there are few changes in laws, policies and regulations affecting nuclear power.
In the high case, national intentions for expanding the use of nuclear power were considered. The report states that the high case projection remains both plausible and technically feasible and notes the possibility for capacity to exceed this estimate.
The report states that enabling factors, such as national policies, supporting investment and workforce development, would be necessary to help facilitate reaching – or exceeding – the high case. While SMRs continue to attract a lot of interest from both embarking and expanding nuclear power countries, harmonized regulatory and industrial approaches will also be necessary for their successful and timely deployment.
Background
The 45th edition of Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050 provides detailed global trends in nuclear power by region. The report’s low and high projections reflect alternative, yet plausible, assumptions regarding the worldwide deployment of nuclear power.
Since it was first published 45 years ago, the IAEA’s projections have been continually refined to reflect an evolving global energy context. Over the past decade, nuclear power development has remained within the range of projections described in prior editions.
