Category: IAEA

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors will convene its regular March meeting at the Agency’s headquarters starting at 10:30 CET on Monday, 3 March, in Board Room C, Building C, 4th floor, in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). 

Board discussions are expected to include, among others: Nuclear Safety Review 2025; Nuclear Security Review 2025; Nuclear Technology Review 2025; verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015); the conclusion of safeguards agreements and of additional protocols; application of safeguards in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic; NPT safeguards agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran; nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine; transfer of the nuclear materials in the context of AUKUS and its safeguards in all aspects under the NPT; the restoration of the sovereign equality of Member States in the IAEA; and personnel matters. 

The Board of Governors meeting is closed to the press. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will open the meeting with an introductory statement, which will be released to journalists after delivery and posted on the IAEA website.  

Press Conference 

Director General Grossi is expected to hold a press conference at 13:00 CET on Monday, 3 March, in the Press Room of the M building. 

A live video stream of the press conference will be available. The IAEA will provide video footage of the press conference and the Director General’s opening statement here and will make photos available on Flickr.  

Photo Opportunity 

There will be a photo opportunity with the IAEA Director General and the Chair of the Board, Ambassador Matilda Aku Alomatu Osei-Agyeman of Ghana, before the start of the Board meeting, on 3 March at 10:30 CET in Board Room C, in the C building in the VIC. 

Press Working Area 

Conference room M7 on the M-Building’s ground floor will be available as a press working area, starting from 09:00 CET on 3 March. Please note the change of room.

Accreditation

All journalists interested in covering the meeting in person – including those with permanent accreditation – are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans. Journalists without permanent accreditation must send copies of their passport and press ID to the IAEA Press Office by 14:00 CET on Friday, 28 February. 

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

Please plan your arrival to allow sufficient time to pass through the VIC security check. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA Board of Governors will convene a meeting at the Agency’s headquarters starting at 10:00 CET on Thursday, 12 December, in Board Room C, Building C, 4th floor, in the Vienna International Centre (VIC).

The meeting is convened by the Chair of the Board following a letter addressed to him by the Governor from Ukraine, requesting a meeting of the Board.

The Board of Governors meeting is closed to the press.

Photo Opportunity

There will be a photo opportunity before the start of the Board meeting on Thursday, at 10:00 in Board Room C, Building C, 4th floor, in the VIC.

Press Working Area and Accreditation

The Press Room on the M-Building’s ground floor will be available as a press working area starting from 09:00 on 12 December.

All journalists interested in covering the meeting in person – including those with permanent accreditation – are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans. Journalists without permanent accreditation must send copies of their passport and press ID to the IAEA Press Office by 14:00 on Wednesday, 11 December. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Ministers and senior officials of governments and international organizations will convene at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) next week to discuss the role of nuclear science and technology in tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Technology and Applications and the Technical Cooperation Programme will take place in Vienna, Austria, from 26 to 28 November 2024.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will open the conference on Tuesday, 26 November, at 09:30 CET, alongside Co-chair of the Conference Kai Mykkänen, Minister of Climate and the Environment, Finland; Co-chair of the Conference Kwaku Afriyie, Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ghana; Dongyu Qu, Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Ailan Li, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Healthier Populations, World Health Organization (WHO); Shaimaa Al-Sheiby, Vice President for Public Sector and Strategy, the OPEC Fund for International Development; Demetrios Papathanasiou, Global Director, Energy and Extractives Global Practice, the World Bank; and Tom McCulley, Chief Executive Officer, Anglo American Crop Nutrients. This is the second Ministerial Conference of its kind.

A ministerial declaration is expected to be adopted on 26 November, recognizing the role of nuclear science and technology and the Technical Cooperation Programme in addressing global challenges, advancing the 2030 Agenda and fostering international collaboration for peaceful purposes, with a focus on capacity building and equitable access for all Member States.

The conference will take place in Boardroom B/M1, M Building, Vienna International Centre (VIC). The conference, including the ministerial segments, technical sessions and panels, is open to media and will be livestreamed. The provisional programme is available here.

Nuclear applications are an integral part of the technological solution to address development challenges the world is facing today, including climate change, health, food safety and security, and water resource management. Since the first Ministerial Conference in 2018, the IAEA launched the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC), NUclear TEChnology for Controlling Plastic Pollution (NUTEC Plastics), Rays of Hope, Atoms4NetZero and, together with the FAO, the Atoms4Food initiative. Through these initiatives, the IAEA can support its Member States and mobilize resources to realize the full potential of nuclear solutions towards global goals.

Among 1400 participants, more than 50 high-level officials, including ministers, are expected to deliver national statements. The scientific and technical programme comprises panel discussions among ministers, scientists and experts on the latest developments in nuclear science, technology and applications. Member State’s representatives will also share experiences on how the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme has contributed to their national development.

Accreditation

All journalists interested in covering the meeting in person – including those with permanent accreditation – are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans. Journalists without permanent accreditation must send copies of their passport and press ID to the IAEA Press Office by 14:00 CET on Monday, 25 November. 

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

Please plan your arrival to allow sufficient time to pass through the VIC security check. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Momentum for nuclear energy as a key driver toward net-zero is stronger than ever. Now is the time to turn last year’s historic consensus in Dubai into action, advancing nuclear solutions to ensure energy security, achieve climate targets and promote sustainable development.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is bringing this message to the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29).

This year’s COP has climate finance at the top of the agenda. Building on the back of the historic inclusion of nuclear in the COP28 Global Stocktake and the first ever Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels, Director General Grossi will attend COP29 with a call to increase climate finance for nuclear. At the Financing Low Carbon Technology, Including Nuclear Energy event on 13 November at 16:00, Director General Grossi, as well as the COP29 presidency, ministers, heads of international organizations, multilateral development banks and the private sector will discuss scaling up the financing necessary to expand all low carbon energy technologies, including nuclear power.

In recently published projections, the IAEA increased its forecast for nuclear power generation for the fourth consecutive year. In its high-case scenario, global nuclear capacity by 2050 could reach two and a half times today’s levels, with small modular reactors (SMRs) contributing a quarter of this expansion. The United States Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, John Podesta, and Director General Grossi will host an event on Accelerating Early Deployment of Small Modular Reactors at 12:45 on 13 November.

Throughout the two-week conference, which runs from 11 to 22 November, the IAEA will also promote the use of nuclear science and technologies for climate change adaptation and monitoring to achieve sustainable water management, protect coastal and marine ecosystems and provide food security.

On 12 November, Director General Grossi will join leaders from UNIDO, FAO, WTO and other key sectors for a flagship event on Decarbonizing and Adapting the Cotton-to-Clothing Value Chain through Multisectoral Partnerships. The event will showcase how innovative policies, technologies and partnerships can drive decarbonization in the cotton sector and strengthen climate resilience.

Millions worldwide still face hunger, and transforming agrifood systems through science and technology is essential to address this challenge amid changing climate conditions. An event on the joint IAEA/FAO Atoms4Food initiative will take place at the China Pavilion on 12 November to present achievements in agriculture and food security in the context of national climate adaptation efforts. 

The Atoms4Climate pavilion will be hosted by the IAEA in the Blue Zone at COP and will showcase nuclear power, science and technology solutions for climate change mitigation, adaptation and monitoring.

The IAEA will host and participate in more than 50 events focusing on four thematic areas: energy, food, the ocean and water.

See the IAEA COP29 page for the complete list of IAEA and partner events. Check the individual event pages for updates on livestreaming opportunities.

Nuclear security measures

For the third time, the IAEA is supporting the COP host country to implement nuclear security measures during the two-week conference. In October, the Agency trained more than 100 national first responders and staff from security enforcement bodies, including through hands-on equipment training conducted at the Baku Stadium, the venue for the COP. The Agency has also supplied over 100 radiation detection devices to support the nuclear security measures throughout COP, which is expected to draw around 40 000 participants. Similar assistance was provided by the IAEA at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and COP28 in Dubai, UAE, as part of the IAEA’s two decades worth of support offered to countries, upon their request, for nuclear security at major public events.  

IAEA media team contacts

IAEA experts in climate change mitigation, adaptation and monitoring will be available for interviews at COP29.

For interview requests and other media-related questions, please contact Fredrik Dahl, IAEA Spokesperson, at Fredrik.Dahl@iaea.org and copy press@iaea.org.

The IAEA video team will be present at COP29. B-roll footage is available here. For additional requests of B-roll of the Director General, the IAEA pavilion or specific events, please contact multimedia.contact-point@iaea.org and copy press@iaea.org.

Registration

To attend IAEA events in person, you must register for COP29. For media accreditation and all other details concerning the attendance of COP29, please refer to the UNFCCCC online registration page. The IAEA cannot assist with accreditation to COP29.

Media kit

The COP29 media kit provides information on the four key areas highlighted at the #Atoms4Climate pavilion — energy, food, the ocean and water — along with recent reports and further background information.

The media kit also contains B-roll video footage on nuclear power and applications to tackle climate change, videos on the IAEA and climate change and high-resolution images in the IAEA Flickr account. The IAEA will take photographs at COP29 and post them on Flickr.

This material is free to use under the copyright provisions of the IAEA Terms of Use. If you have further questions, please contact us.

The IAEA’s explainer articles, podcasts and other resources on climate change are available on the IAEA website.

Follow the IAEA and #Atoms4Climate on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and Weibo for updates throughout COP29.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA Board of Governors will convene its regular November meeting at the Agency’s headquarters starting at 10:30 CET on Wednesday, 20 November, in Board Room C, Building C, 4th floor, in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). 

Board discussions are expected to include, among others: applications for membership of the Agency; report of the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee; verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015); nuclear verification: the conclusion of safeguards agreements and of additional protocols (if any), staff of the Department of Safeguards to be used as Agency inspectors, application of safeguards in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic, naval nuclear propulsion: Australia and naval nuclear propulsion: Brazil, and NPT safeguards agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran; nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine; transfer of the nuclear materials in the context of AUKUS and its safeguards in all aspects under the NPT; and restoration of the Sovereign Equality of Member States in the IAEA. 

The Board of Governors meeting is closed to the press. 

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will open the meeting with an introductory statement, which will be released to journalists after delivery and posted on the IAEA website.  

Press Conference 

Director General Grossi is expected to hold a press conference at 13:00 CET on Wednesday, 20 November, in the Press Room of the M building. 

A live video stream of the press conference will be available. The IAEA will provide video footage of the press conference and the Director General’s opening statement here and will make photos available on Flickr.  

Photo Opportunity 

There will be a photo opportunity with the IAEA Director General and the Chair of the Board, Ambassador Philbert Abaka Johnson of Ghana, before the start of the Board meeting, on 20 November at 10:30 CET in Board Room C, in the C building in the VIC. 

Press Working Area 

The Press Room on the M-Building’s ground floor will be available as a press working area, starting from 9:00 CET on 20 November. 

Accreditation

All journalists interested in covering the meeting in person – including those with permanent accreditation – are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans. Journalists without permanent accreditation must send copies of their passport and press ID to the IAEA Press Office by 14:00 CET on Tuesday, 19 November. 

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

Please plan your arrival to allow sufficient time to pass through the VIC security check. 

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The experiments detailed in the paper were carried out at Lawrence Livermore’s National Laboratory (LLNL). For the last six decades, this laboratory, home to the world’s most powerful laser, has worked to achieve the challenging goal of fusion ignition – producing more fusion energy than the amount of laser energy delivered to the target source.  The lab’s ‘National Ignition Facility’ (NIF) uses a method called inertial confinement fusion, which involves smashing a fuel pellet with lasers, as opposed to magnetic confinement fusion, which uses powerful magnets to trap a cloud of atoms, called plasma, in a reactor.

“For over a year and a half after the initial experimental success, […] polar direct drive was the most efficient way to convert laser energy input into fusion output,” Yeamans said.

Heather Whitley, associate programme director for High Energy Density Science at LLNL, developed the initial design for a large diameter polar direct drive (PDD) capsule with Steve Craxton and Emma Garcia of the University of Rochester. She said: “The polar direct drive configuration provides excellent diagnostic access for other high temperature plasma physics experiments.”

Following the PDD experiment, in December 2022 NIF conducted the first controlled fusion experiment to produce a net energy gain with the indirect drive method, a major scientific breakthrough which attracted global attention.

Yeaman’s co-authors are Elijah Kemp, Zach Walters, Heather Whitley and Brent Blue from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory, and Steve Craxton, Patrick McKenty, Emma Garcia and Yujia Yang from the Laboratory for Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester. 

The prize ceremony for the 2024 award and the upcoming 2025 award will take place in October during the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference in Chengdu China.

Find out more about the Nuclear Fusion journal, and how to prepare and submit an article here.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA’s Annual Report and the Technical Cooperation Report for 2024 were presented to the Board, showcasing the Agency’s work in science, international cooperation and innovation. 

In his address, Mr Grossi highlighted the IAEA’s flagship initiatives: Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All, Atoms4Food and NUTEC Plastics.

The 2025 Rays of Hope Forum will be held in Ethiopia at the end of June and provides an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved over the past three years, as well as to foster collaboration and further mobilize resources. Rays of Hope aims to expand access to affordable cancer care where it is needed most; supporting countries in providing life-saving radiotherapy and building the capacities of radiation medicine professionals. More than 90 countries have requested support under the initiative.

The IAEA will continue to work with partners on Atoms4Food, its joint initiative with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to fight world hunger, Mr Grossi said. Part of the initiative, the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture supports the use of nuclear technologies to boost global food security and sustainable agricultural development.

Speaking about NUTEC Plastics, the IAEA initiative to combat plastic pollution, Mr Grossi said: “At this week’s UN Ocean Conference, we are showing what we are doing in very concrete terms to fight plastic pollution through new technology.”

The IAEA is harnessing the power of nuclear technologies involving radiation to improve recycling and create bio-based plastics, which offer a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastic products.

With support from the NUTEC Plastics initiative, 104 Member States now use nuclear technologies to monitor microplastics, while 52 are collaborating with the IAEA on upcycling efforts.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

The IAEA team based at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) today heard repeated rounds of gunfire that appeared to be aimed at drones reportedly attacking the site’s training centre, followed by the sound of multiple explosions, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said.

It was the fourth time this year that the training centre, located just outside the site perimeter, was reportedly targeted by unmanned aerial vehicles.

“Drones flying close to nuclear power plants could threaten their safety and security, with potentially serious consequences. As I have stated repeatedly during the war, such incidents must stop immediately,” Director General Grossi said.

The IAEA team on site reported hearing at least five explosions between 11:30am and 13:45pm local time, each preceded by gunfire. Additional gunfire was heard around 14:00pm. The ZNPP told the IAEA team that all incidents involved “drone neutralization” near the training centre premises. There were no immediate reports of any damage to the centre.

Last month, the IAEA team also heard bursts of gunfire, coinciding with a purported drone attack on the same training centre. In mid-April this year, a drone was reportedly shot down and crashed near the ZNPP’s training centre, just over three months after another reported drone attack on the centre.

Drones are also frequently detected near Ukraine’s other nuclear sites.

In February, a drone severely damaged the New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chornobyl plant in northern Ukraine, built to prevent any radioactive release from the reactor unit 4 destroyed in the 1986 accident and to protect it from external hazards.

Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine – also regularly report of drones being detected near the respective sites.

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

Each year, more than 1400 women in Syria are diagnosed with gynaecological cancer. For many, access to a specialized form of internal radiotherapy called brachytherapy could significantly improve their chances of survival.

To help these women receive the treatment they need, the IAEA, through its Rays of Hope Initiative, is working with local medical teams to build Syria’s first fully equipped brachytherapy suite at Al-Biruni Hospital in Damascus. This life-saving facility is being made possible with the financial support of the government of Italy.

“We are supporting the reconstruction of Syria’s radiotherapy, nuclear medicine, and radiology services,” said Mr Grossi. “We’re providing equipment like CT scanners, brachytherapy machines for women’s cancers, and other tools not currently available in the country, and we will train personnel on the ground to use them.”