Category: IAEA

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The 69th Annual Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference, #IAEAGC, will convene from 15 to 19 September at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) in Vienna, Austria. The opening session takes place on Monday, 15 September, at 10:00 CEST. 

High-ranking officials and representatives from IAEA Member States will consider and make decisions on a range of issues pertaining to the work and the budget of the Agency.

The main conference events will take place in the M-Building of the VIC.

All plenary sessions of the General Conference will be livestreamed on the IAEA website in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

The opening session of the GC will also be streamed live on the lAEA YouTube channel in high definition. The IAEA will provide video footage here and will make photos available on Flickr.

Details of the General Conference, including the provisional agenda, are available on the IAEA website and social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Weibo).

The Press Room on the M-building’s ground floor will be available as a press working area from 08:30 CEST on 15 September.

Media Briefing on Nuclear Energy Projections

The IAEA’s latest nuclear power projections will be released on 15 September, in the 45th edition of Energy, Electricity and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050. The report provides detailed global trends in nuclear power by region.

The IAEA will host a briefing for media on the new projections. IAEA experts, including Henri Paillere, Head of Planning and Economic Studies at the IAEA, will provide the briefing on Monday, 15 September at 09:30 CEST in the Press Room.

Please note: All information presented during the media briefing is under embargo until after the Director General’s opening statement on Monday, 15 September.

Please inform the IAEA Press Office if you plan to attend the media briefing.

Scientific Forum

This year’s Scientific Forum, organized on the sidelines of the General Conference on 16 and 17 September, is entitled Atoms for Water.

The Forum will 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. The Forum aims to foster partnerships and reflect on the importance of water as a global common good to be managed sustainably and equitably for all.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will open the Scientific Forum with high-level speakers on Tuesday, 16 September, at 09:30 CEST.

The Forum will take place in Board Room D, C-Building, 4th floor. All sessions will be livestreamed.

Accreditation

All journalists – including those with permanent accreditation – are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans to attend the General Conference, Media Briefing and Scientific Forum. 

Journalists without permanent accreditation must send copies of their passport and press ID to the IAEA Press Office by 12:00 CEST on Friday, 12 September.

We encourage those journalists who do not yet have permanent accreditation to request it at UNIS Vienna.

Access to the plenary sessions of the General Conference and the Scientific Forum for photographers and video camera operators must be requested in advance.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has received further details about the dam constructed to secure cooling water for the systems needed to maintain the reactor units at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in cold shutdown.

The IAEA team based at the ZNPP received updates on Tuesday regarding the location of the newly built dam and its purpose, which is to isolate one of the ZNPP’s channels from the plant’s cooling pond. The channel in question supplies service water for cooling several plant systems, such as the main unit transformers, required to safely maintain the ZNPP’s six reactors in cold shutdown, which they have remained in since April 2024.

The ZNPP confirmed that the dam will help maintain the water level in the channel at about 14 metres, which is 2 metres above the threshold at which the service water pumps would no longer be able to operate. In addition, the ZNPP continues to use groundwater wells on site to provide cooling water for its safety systems to cool the reactor cores and spent fuel pools.

The IAEA team based at the ZNPP site – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant (NPP) – continues to request access to the newly constructed dam but have not yet been permitted due to security concerns.

“Our access to this dam is essential to assess the cooling water situation which is crucial given the fragile nuclear safety situation at the ZNPP,” said Director General Grossi.

The cooling water situation is compounded by the fact that the ZNPP remains reliant on one single off-site power line to receive the external electricity it needs to cool its six reactors and their spent fuel, almost four months after it lost the connection to its last 330 kV back-up power line.

The IAEA team continues to follow-up on maintenance work on the safety systems and the site’s electrical systems and equipment, including the backup power transformers. On 25 August, the team performed a walkdown of the turbine hall of a reactor unit but could not gain access to the western part of the building.

The IAEA staff at the ZNPP reported hearing military activities on most days over the past week.

Separately, IAEA teams deployed at Ukraine’s operating NPPs – Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine – are monitoring progress of the shutdown activities. The teams confirmed that one unit was returned to operation earlier this week whilst another was shut down for maintenance. Currently seven reactor units are operating, out of nine in total.

IAEA teams reported hearing air raid alarms most days over the past week at the South Ukraine NPP and the Chornobyl site.

The teams at the Chornobyl site and the Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs have all rotated successfully in recent days. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said that the operator of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bangladesh is committed to further enhance its operational safety performance. The team also encouraged the operator to continue to improve safety in areas including fire prevention and response arrangements, as well as in the supervision of plant operations.

The Pre-Operational Safety Review Team (Pre-OSART) mission ran from 10 to 27 August and was conducted at the request of the Government of Bangladesh to assess the safety of Unit 1 of the Rooppur NPP, prior to its planned commercial operation.

Pre-OSART missions assess safety performance against IAEA safety standards and advance operational safety through recommendations and suggestions. These missions are specifically designed to assess a plant before its first fuel loading.

The Rooppur NPP is in the Pabna District on the banks of the Padma River, approximately 160 kilometres northwest of Dhaka, Bangladesh’s capital city. The plant, owned by Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, will be operated by Nuclear Power Plant Company Bangladesh Limited. The plant consists of two units, both VVER-1200 reactors. Bangladesh is a newcomer to the nuclear power industry, and the construction of the country’s first two units in Rooppur began with the first concrete pouring on 30 November 2017 for Unit 1 and 14 July 2018 for Unit 2. When completed, Rooppur NPP will contribute a total of 2400 MW(e) to Bangladesh’s energy grid.

The Pre-OSART team reviewed operating practices of Unit 1 in the areas of leadership and management for safety, training and qualification, operations, maintenance, technical support, operating experience, radiation protection, chemistry, emergency preparedness, accident management and commissioning. The team comprised 14 experts from Bulgaria, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The mission team also included IAEA staff members and one observer from the Russian Federation.

Prior to the mission, the team reviewed documents from the Rooppur NPP on its main technical features, staff organization and responsibilities, and its arrangements for operations. During the mission, the team observed the plant’s commissioning and pre-operational activities, examined indicators of its performance and held in-depth discussions with plant personnel.

The Pre-OSART team observed that the staff at the plant are knowledgeable, professional and committed to improving the operational safety and reliability of the plant. The team said that the technical exchanges with the plant’s staff were fruitful and that there was a good exchange of experience and knowledge on how the common goal of excellence in operational safety could be further enhanced.

“The transition from commissioning to operations is one of the most important stages for the safe operation of a nuclear power plant,” said Simon Morgan, Senior Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA. “The team observed a commitment from the plant management to assure that all the required pre-requisites are in place to enable this transition to take place safely and in accordance with national and IAEA standards.”

The team identified areas of good practice to be shared with the nuclear industry globally, notably the Rooppur Training Centre’s integration of a state-of-the-art simulator to train refuelling machine operations.

The mission also provided some recommendations to further improve safety, including:

• To enhance the fire safety arrangements and prevention measures to ensure effective mitigation of fire risk and effective fire response.
• To improve the supervision, standards and conduct of plant operations.
• To strengthen the arrangements for equipment preservation during commissioning to ensure adequate protection of systems and components.

“Bangladesh is committed to achieving and sustaining high standards of the operational safety and reliability of its first NPP, the Rooppur NPP. The country is reinforcing the high safety standards for Rooppur NPP by participating in the Pre-OSART mission to ensure compliance with IAEA safety standards for the plant’s construction and operation,” said Md. Kabir Hossain, Project Director of the Rooppur NPP. “This engagement with the Pre-OSART mission demonstrates the country’s dedication to building a safe and reliable nuclear facility and fostering a strong nuclear safety culture. Bangladesh views such IAEA peer review missions as a vital tool for self-assessment, allowing the country to evaluate its adherence to international safety standards and identify weaknesses in the national nuclear programme.”

The team provided a draft report of the mission to the plant’s management. They will have the opportunity to make factual comments on the draft. These comments will be reviewed by the IAEA, and the final report will be submitted to Bangladesh within three months.

Background

General information about OSART missions can be found on the IAEA website. An OSART mission is designed as a review of programmes and activities essential to operational safety. It is not a regulatory inspection, nor is it a design review or a substitute for an exhaustive assessment of the plant’s overall safety status.

Follow-up missions are standard components of the OSART programme and are typically conducted within two years of the initial mission.

The IAEA safety standards provide a robust framework of fundamental principles, requirements and guidance to ensure safety. They reflect an international consensus and serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

After graduation from Ecole Mohammadia des Ingénieurs in 1993, Bouchra faced yet another challenge – finding work in a country without nuclear power plants. She began her career in the Ministry of Industry, thereafter  oining the National Center for Radiation Protection in 1995, where she focused on radiological environment monitoring and regulatory functions, laying the foundation for her future in nuclear security.

Her career took a pivotal turn in 2006 when she attended a training course on physical protection in Libya, where she first encountered the concept of nuclear security.  

“I discovered a new field, and I was fascinated,” she says. This newfound passion motivated her to pursue further training with the IAEA and the U.S. Department of Energy, eventually becoming Morocco’s counterpart in the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.  

As a young mother, Bouchra had to learn to strike a balance between her career and family responsibilities.  

“I put my career on hold for seven or eight years when my children were young,” she says.   

However, when the opportunity arose to lead the Department of Nuclear Security and Safeguards at the newly-established Moroccan Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security in 2016, she seized it. In this role, she drafted regulations, established licensing systems, and contributed to Morocco’s implementation of the IAEA comprehensive safeguards and additional protocol.  

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The sustained presence of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) has been essential to our ongoing efforts to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident amid the conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said, as the IAEA approaches three years of continuous presence at the site.

Over the past week, the IAEA team at the ZNPP reported hearing military activities almost every day, and the IAEA teams present at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl NPP site heard air raid alarms nearly every day, as well.

On Thursday morning, the IAEA team at Chornobyl was awakened by the sound of multiple explosions. They were later informed that several drones were detected above the Exclusion Zone, approximately 5 kilometres from the site, and the sounds the team heard were anti-aircraft fire.

“My position remains unchanged. I’m deeply concerned about the increased frequency of reported drone activity near nuclear facilities,” Director General Grossi said. “I renew my call for maximum military restraint to prevent a nuclear accident.”

Over the weekend, the IAEA team based at the ZNPP was informed of a newly constructed dam to isolate one of ZNPP’s channels from its cooling pond. This channel currently supplies water for the cooling of several plant systems, such as unit transformers that provide power to the site’s six reactor units, which is needed for the operation of their safety systems.

The ZNPP’s six reactors have been in cold shutdown since spring 2024 but still require cooling water for their safety systems, reactor cores and spent fuel pools. While the ZNPP continues to use water from the groundwater wells on site for the cooling of these essential services, the dam was constructed to preserve the water in the channel to provide cooling for other plant systems that are needed to maintain the ZNPP in safe shutdown for extended periods of time.

The IAEA team has also been informed that the site is pumping water from the cooling pond into the isolated part of this channel and that the current water level in the channel is more than a meter above the point where cooling pumps would cease to operate. The ZNPP is also considering other options for supplying power to its reactor units to maintain the operation of its safety systems, as well as other measures for the cooling of the unit transformers.

“This underscores the ongoing challenges in ensuring reliable cooling water for the ZNPP’s six reactors and their safety systems needed to maintain long-term cold shutdown. The potential loss of cooling resulting from the depletion of the water in this ZNPP channel represents a real concern with respect to nuclear safety, which is a priority for the IAEA,” Director General Grossi said.

“The IAEA teams will continue to request access to the new isolation dam and will monitor this situation extremely closely,” he added.

The ZNPP has been connected to a single off-site power line for over three months. The IAEA teams will continue to monitor the external power situation, which continues to be extremely fragile. This is now the longest period of time when the site has not had a back-up power line.

At Ukraine’s three operating NPPs, two of their nine reactors are shut down for maintenance and refuelling, which includes work on some off-site power lines.

Over the past weekend, two reactor units had their power levels reduced due to grid limitations. Both have since returned to nominal power levels.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The most common cancer among women in Madagascar is cervical cancer, with a mortality rate of 30 per cent, followed by breast and colorectal cancers. In men, prostate, liver cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma are the most common cancers, driven by infectious diseases.  

The team assessed all elements that can impact cancer care in the country. These include factors such as governance, resources and regulatory frameworks for radiation safety, and components such as surveillance, referral networks, early diagnostic capacities, oncology workforce development opportunities, and readiness for advanced and expanded radiotherapy services.  

“The strength of the imPACT review lies in its analysis of the entire cancer continuum,” said Laurent Musango, WHO Representative in Madagascar. “The assessment reveals a solid foundation for integrating cancer control at the community level, and the potential for an overall strengthening of health systems in terms of prevention and early diagnosis.”  

The review found that Madagascar has been steadfast in boosting cancer services since a previous assessment in 2015. The country has expanded cervical cancer prevention, with pre-cancerous lesion screening already available and HPV vaccination set to start in October and has undertaken important efforts to modernize and distribute imaging services.  

The national health system also has an established and overall qualified health workforce, with six faculties of medicine available to train specialized health professionals – particularly in surgery, a critical aspect in cancer treatment.  

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Also in June, Tunisia transferred 50 brachytherapy needles and tubes from the Oncology Institute of Tunis, as well as 75 foils formerly used in lightning rods. Like all previous transfers, the operation in Tunisia was conducted in accordance with strict safety protocols, with no contamination detected throughout the process.  

“The operational strategy was developed based on the experience gained from the removal and repatriation of six disused cobalt-60 sources performed from 2022 to 2024 with support from the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Radiological Security,” said Latifa Ben Omrane, Director General of Tunisia’s National Centre for Radiation Protection (CNRP). “This radium-226 source transfer operation was successfully conducted thanks to effective coordination among several organizations, including the CNRP, the Ministry of Health, local logistics and transport company, customs and airport staff and the IAEA.” 

Several more transfers are planned for 2025 from countries including Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines and Zimbabwe.     

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The deadline for interested contributors to submit synopses for the IAEA’s International Conference on the Safe and Secure Transport of Nuclear and Radioactive Material has been extended to 30 September 2025

The IAEA estimates that 20 million shipments of radioactive material are transported every year. These materials are shipped nationally and internationally by road, rail, sea, air and inland waterways for applications such as medicine and health, agriculture, nuclear power generation and advanced scientific research. 

The conference, to be hosted in Vienna, Austria from 23 to 27 March 2026, will cover the legislative and regulatory framework for the transport of nuclear and other radioactive material, safety and security by design; safety and security during transport operations. It builds on previous events held in 2011 and 2021.

“For decades, IAEA safety standards have been the backbone for the safe transport of radioactive material. With rapid technological advances in the nuclear and transport sectors, the global landscape is evolving — and fast. This conference aims to drive innovation, share experience and help strengthen the global standards,” said Shazia Fayyaz, one of the scientific secretaries and Head of the IAEA Transport Safety Unit in the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety.

“During transport, nuclear and radioactive material may be vulnerable to a number of modal specific risks and threats,” said Robert Officer, the other scientific secretary of the conference and Head of the IAEA Transport Security Unit in the Division of Nuclear Security. “The conference will further raise awareness through sharing experiences on strengthening safety and security capabilities, including on such topics as legal and policy frameworks, and technological and commercial trends for the protection of end-to-end transport.”

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –