Category: Nuclear Industry

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Celebrating 60 Years of the Unique FAO and IAEA Partnership

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

As the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre marks its 60th anniversary, it reflects on a legacy of innovation and collaboration that underscores the critical role of science and international cooperation in tackling global challenges in agrifood systems transformation. The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre is dedicated to developing solutions to promote access to nutritious and safe food for a growing population while minimizing agriculture’s environmental impacts and addressing climate change threats.  

To help boost global food production and food and nutrition, the IAEA and FAO launched the Atoms4Food initiative in 2023 during the World Food Forum. It offers tailor-made approaches in food and agriculture. The initiative supports countries in using  innovative nuclear techniques to enhance agricultural productivity,  increase the resilience of agrifood systems, enhance food production, improve food safety, and the challenges of climate change. 

The Joint FAO/IAEA Centre will continue to drive innovation and deliver tangible solutions to the ever-changing agricultural challenges facing our world by fostering research for development, enhancing capacity development and knowledge sharing, and strengthening partnerships.

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Woman of Steel: The Earthquake Engineer Building a More Resilient Future

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The IAEA profiles employees to provide insight into the variety of career paths that support the Agency’s mission of Atoms for Peace and Development and to inspire and encourage readers, particularly women, to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or STEM-adjacent fields. Read more profiles of women at the IAEA.  

Zeynep Gulerce’s career has been shaped by earthquakes. She was a young civil-engineer-in-training in Türkiye when a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck the Kocaeli Province of the country. It lasted 37 seconds and claimed more than 18 000 lives and injured tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of thousands lost their homes and businesses. Confronted by this devastation, Gulerce, like many in her generation, decided to dedicate her career to trying to ensure that never again would an earthquake take so much from so many people. After she graduated as a civil engineer, she obtained a masters’ degree in earthquake engineering from Middle East Technical University, followed by a PhD in the same subject at the University of California, Davis, in the United States.

“I think my generation of civil engineers in Türkiye felt this responsibility on their shoulders: to prevent the loss of lives in the next big earthquake,” Gulerce says.

After her PhD, Gulerce had no doubt where her responsibility lay. She returned to Türkiye, determined to apply the best practices she had learned, to compile as much data as possible about active faults and earthquakes, and to train the next generation of experts. Her goal was to ensure that when the next earthquake hit, countries would be better prepared to act to safeguard lives and property.

Over the next two decades, as a professor at her alma mater, Gulerce contributed to a variety of national and international projects, including a series of seismic hazard assessments for the critical infrastructure of Türkiye, and a NATO project to develop seismic hazard maps for the Western Balkan region. When Türkiye decided to re-start the national nuclear power programme, Zeynep was a natural choice as a seismic consultant for the nuclear regulatory authority. In this capacity, she also worked with the IAEA on a number of capacity building missions. In 2022, she joined the External Events Safety Section of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety as a Nuclear Safety Expert.

For Zeynep, her work at the IAEA continues her life’s work of building engineering capacity to mitigate and prevent earthquake damage. At the IAEA, this means supporting countries to develop comprehensive seismic hazard assessments at the site of a prospective nuclear facility and to use the results to perform safety analyses based on the IAEA safety standards.

“Nuclear power is needed to meet energy needs,” Gulerce says. “You cannot avoid all regions where earthquakes are frequent. If you have sufficient resources, and as long as you estimate the risk accurately, and adapt your plans accordingly, you can build anything anywhere. We support countries to make the best use of their resources to evaluate and mitigate seismic risk.”

Adapting to different countries’ approaches to estimate seismic hazards, and learning about their different needs, has been a particular learning opportunity for Zeynep at the IAEA.

Zeynep has also developed skills in a new, but equally important area: examining how climate change can impact the resiliency of nuclear installations and how safety assessment methods should be adapted to mitigate climate-related hazards.  

Climate change, she explains, is likely to challenge the nuclear industry in a way that earthquakes may not, because of its uncertainty.

She explained that power plants, including nuclear ones, are robust structures that are built to handle climate-related events, but the analyses generally are based on past weather records. However, climate change is causing weather conditions to be much more severe than in the past. “One good example is the increasing number of heatwaves, where nuclear power plants have had to stop operations due to rising temperatures. Because these nuclear facilities need to remain safe and stable for decades, we need to find new methods to include the changing climatic conditions in our safety assessments”, she says.

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Optimized Radiotherapy Approach Could Extend Treatment to 2.2 Million More Cancer Patients, IAEA Co-authored Report Finds

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The Lancet Oncology Commission on Radiotherapy and Theranostics report highlights the importance of implementing cost-effective approaches in low- and middle-income countries, where access to radiotherapy and theranostics is limited. (Photo: Lancet Oncology)

Implementing hypofractionation – fewer but higher doses of radiation per daily treatment session over a shorter time frame – compared with conventional radiotherapy in prostate and breast cancer could provide radiotherapy for an additional 2.2 million patients globally, according to a Lancet Oncology Commission led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The report notes that hypofractionation for a range of cancers is associated with benefits of lower costs, increased treatment precision and reduced treatment time, which can liberate machine time and improve access to treatment.

The Lancet Oncology Commission on Radiotherapy and Theranostics report, launched today during the American Society for Radiation Oncology in Washington, DC, highlights the importance of implementing cost-effective approaches in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where access to radiotherapy and theranostics is most limited. The report draws on data obtained from a survey of 200 radiotherapy centres spanning 55 countries.

About 50 to 70 per cent of all patients with cancer need radiotherapy, and more than 50 per cent of this population reside in LMICs. International efforts that focus on sustainability, strengthen infrastructure and build cancer care capacities – such as the IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative – can help address global gaps, the report notes. Looking ahead to 2050, the projected surge in new cancer cases would require the 2022 workforce to expand by more than 60 per cent to reach the needed 84 646 radiation oncologists, 47 026 medical physicists and 141 077 radiotherapy technologists globally, according to the report.

While investing in radiotherapy leads to economic benefits ranging between $278.1 billion and $365.4 billion worldwide for the period from 2015 to 2035, further improvements can be achieved by resource-sparing approaches. A 50 per cent substitution of conventional radiotherapy with hypofractionated radiotherapy could result in $2.76 billion in cost-savings for prostate and breast cancer, for example. At 80 percent substitution, this grows to $4.41 billion.

“For healthcare practitioners and policy makers around the world, this report can serve as an evidence base to scale up the adoption and implementation of resource-sparing approaches that have been shown to be safe and effective. The report also shows that advanced technologies such as stereotactic body radiation therapy – a type of hypofractionation that delivers precise, high doses but requires more advanced equipment – may be cost-effective over the course of a patient’s disease as compared to more conventional methods,” said May Abdel-Wahab, co-lead author of the report and Director of the IAEA Division of Human Health.

Access to theranostics

Following up on the 2015 Lancet Oncology Commission on expanding access to radiotherapy, the IAEA, together with experts from 44 academic institutions and medical centres from 23 countries, assessed the access and availability of radiotherapy and theranostics in the latest report. Theranostics, the combination of radionuclides to diagnose and treat cancer patients, requires knowledge of radiation principles and radiation biology, as well as expertise in imaging technologies and radiopharmaceutical use for effective cancer treatment approaches.

Health economics modelling of a radiopharmaceutical treatment for prostate cancer, for example, showed a social impact totalling $725 million over a seven-year period. However, the Commission’s global survey of nuclear medicine facilities across 82 countries along with IAEA data from an additional 84 countries shows that radioisotope supply chains, trained workforce availability and regulatory challenges affect the implementation of radiopharmaceutical therapies.

“These data underlines both the potential benefits and urgent need for action for theranostics availability. As one of the fastest growing areas of cancer treatment, this report demonstrates the compelling rationale for ensuring that adequate supplies, equipment, infrastructure and personnel for theranostics delivery are all in place to provide optimal patient care,” said co-lead author Andrew Scott, Professor at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

The Commission proposes actions and investments that could enhance global access to both radiotherapy and theranostics, particularly in LMICs, to realize health and economic benefits and to reduce the burden of cancer.

“Across the globe, access to high-quality cancer care remains out of reach for far too many patients. In addressing this inequality, the Lancet Oncology Commission report outlines compelling data and recommendations to help us provide access to the care that every patient deserves,” said IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. “Through initiatives like Rays of Hope, we are actively working to bridge these gaps by expanding radiotherapy services and building sustainable cancer care capacities in low- and middle-income countries, ensuring that no patient is left behind.”

The IAEA’s Rays of Hope initiative, launched in 2022, aims to help widen access to cancer care in LMICs by improving the availability of radiotherapy services, medical imaging and nuclear medicine. A network of regional Anchor Centres has been established to provide targeted support and expertise to neighbouring countries, focusing on education, training, research and quality assurance.

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IAEA Director General at UN Summit of the Future and General Assembly

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi attended the UN Summit of the Future with world leaders in New York this week and addressed its Plenary meeting. The Summit adopted a “Pact for the Future” designed to improve the present and build a better future. Mr Grossi’s speech outlined how the IAEA is a concrete instrument that can help fulfilling the goals of the Pact. While in New York, Mr Grossi also held multiple meetings with world leaders to expand the work of the IAEA in using nuclear science and technology to further peace and development.

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Update 251 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi addressed world leaders gathered at the United Nations this week and yet, even as he informed them about the ceaseless work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help Ukraine avert a nuclear accident during the military conflict, the Agency teams stationed at the country’s nuclear power plants (NPPs) continued to report about drones and other military activities nearby.

Ahead of this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Director General Grossi spoke at the Summit of the Future about the IAEA’s mission to foster peace and development around the world, including by assisting Ukraine in ensuring nuclear safety and security during a large-scale conflict that is now well into its third year.

Noting that Ukraine used to generate more than half its electricity from nuclear power before the conflict began in February 2022, he said: “From the first months of the war, the IAEA has focused on assisting Ukraine in preventing a radiological or nuclear accident, which could have serious transborder consequences.”

The IAEA has since established support and assistance missions at all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including the Zaporizhzhya NPP located on the frontline, as well as the Chornobyl site.  

“Following months of negotiations and consultations, on 30 May 2023 at the UN Security Council I outlined five concrete principles to help ensure nuclear safety and security at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP. These principles received strong support from the Members of the Council,” Director General Grossi said in Monday’s statement to the Summit.

The persistent dangers to nuclear safety and security in Ukraine were also a key topic during the Director General’s many meetings with government leaders and other senior officials in New York this week, including with new Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who voiced strong support for the IAEA’s work in the country.

Reports from the IAEA’s teams in Ukraine made clear that the nuclear safety and security situation remained precarious over the past week, with one team seeking shelter due to the presence of drones in the area, another team hearing anti-aircraft fire and a large explosion during an air raid alarm, and a third team visiting the site of an alleged drone attack.

At the ZNPP, the IAEA team heard explosions throughout the week, including several blasts close to the site, although no damage to the plant was reported.

Last Saturday, the ZNPP informed the team of an alleged drone strike that occurred on Friday afternoon on a 35/6 kilovolt (kV) substation around 300 metres away from the plant. This substation provides electricity to non-safety related facilities at the ZNPP, including a grid-water pumping station, a water management plant, and external warehouses.

Visiting the affected site the day following the alleged attack, the IAEA team observed some impact on one of the substation’s two transformers. Remains of batteries and metal pieces of the alleged drone were also observed in the area. The plant said repairs are still ongoing.

Over the past week, the IAEA team has continued to conduct walkdowns across the ZNPP site, discussing maintenance and other activities important for nuclear safety and security of the plant. However, yesterday the ZNPP informed the team that it was not allowed to conduct its planned walkdown of the external warehouses and diesel fuel storage facility due to the risk from military activities.

Ensuring adequate maintenance remains challenging during the conflict. The IAEA team was informed about the five categories of maintenance the ZNPP is implementing to ensure the reliability of the emergency diesel generators (EDGs) and about the scheduling of the maintenance frequency. The ZNPP said category 1 and 2 maintenance, the lowest categories, involving monthly visual inspections and annual maintenance, is ongoing during 2024. More advanced maintenance is planned for some EDGs in the coming years. The team was also informed on the progress of maintenance activities performed on reactor unit 6 during recent months.

Among other activities, the IAEA team visited the turbine halls of reactor units 3 and 4 and were again not allowed to access the western parts of the buildings. On Monday, the IAEA team conducted a walkdown inside the unit 5 reactor building, observing the monthly changeover between cooling pumps of the spent fuel pool as well as some of the main reactor components and safety systems rooms.

The IAEA teams present at the Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine NPPs and the Chornobyl site reported that nuclear safety and security is being maintained despite the effects of the ongoing conflict, including air raid alarms on several days over the past week.

Over the past weekend, unit 2 at the South Ukraine NPP (SUNPP) was transferred to a cold shutdown state to repair the electrical motor of one of its main cooling pumps, which was damaged as a result of military attacks on the electrical grid outside the plant on 26 August. Following completion of the repairs, the unit returned to operation on Wednesday, and is increasing power. The plant’s connection to two off-site power lines that were disconnected following last month’s attacks was restored.

On the night of 18 September, the IAEA team at the SUNPP was required to shelter due to the reported presence of drones in the vicinity. The IAEA was subsequently informed by the plant that 22 drones flew through the area, including one over the plant, while others were observed approximately 1.5 kilometers from the plant. A further 15 drones were recorded by the SUNPP in the area near the site the following night. On the nights of 20 and 21 September, the IAEA was informed by the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) that two and eight drones, respectively, flew through the area.

The IAEA team at the Khmelnytskyy NPP (KhNPP) reported an air raid alarm early in the morning of 22 September, during which the team heard anti-aircraft fire and a large explosion. The team was informed that a drone was detected about 3.4 kilometers from the KhNPP. In the early hours of this morning, the IAEA team was required to shelter multiple times at the site due to several air raid alarms.

The IAEA teams at the SUNPP and at the KhNPP rotated earlier this week.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, SNRIU informed the IAEA that the premises of its Eastern Nuclear and Radiation Safety Inspection regional unit, located in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, was damaged as a result of military activities. There were no casualties.

The IAEA continued this week to deliver on its comprehensive programme of assistance to help Ukraine maintain nuclear safety and security. Two quadcopter drones for performing spatial radiometric surveys were delivered to the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Centre of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine aimed at enhancing their radiation monitoring capability. The delivery was supported by a contribution from Switzerland.

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IAEA Assistance Helps Liberia Avert Radiological Emergency

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

A recovered Cs-137 radioactive source was safely transferred to this ISO container during an IAEA Fact Finding Mission to Monrovia, Liberia in May 2024. (Photo: F.Baciu/IAEA)

Liberia has moved to fast track its accession to nuclear safety treaties, after IAEA experts helped prevent a radiological incident from shutting down the country’s main hospital. 

In May 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia reached out to the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) for assistance after staff detected an unidentified radioactive source in a maintenance room at the John F. Kennedy Medical Centre in Monrovia. 

If the source had not been managed swiftly, it could have led to significant disruptions, adversely impacting thousands of patients. 

The IAEA developed a plan and deployed a fact-finding mission team comprising the IEC response system coordinator and a disused sealed sources specialist, who arrived in Monrovia on 21 May. By the following day, the source was secured and the hospital could continue its work uninterrupted.   

Liberia’s request for assistance was made pursuant to the operational arrangements under the framework of the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, which sets out an international framework for co-operation between State Parties  and the IAEA to facilitate prompt support. Liberia was not a party to this convention at the time but joined it and five other IAEA legal instruments at the IAEA 68th General Conference.

“The Assistance Convention does not mandate that only parties may receive international assistance. Emergencies are events which overwhelm available resources for response. Even a relatively minor event can become an emergency in the absence of the appropriate resources and training,” explained Florian Baciu, IAEA Response System Coordinator in the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. “International assistance is therefore available to any State which requires it, to mitigate the impact of a nuclear or radiological emergency on their territory.”  

In Monrovia, the IAEA mission’s objective was to prevent the temporary closure of the JFK Medical Centre, an essential facility for the country’s healthcare. The radioactive source, identified as Caesium-137, is an artificially produced radionuclide widely used in medical and other fields. The team surmised that the source belonged to a disused brachytherapy machine. Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation therapy that uses radiation sources to treat tumours. The machine had likely been placed in the hospital’s scrap metal facility after it was decommissioned. This incident highlighted the need for proper handling and disposal of radioactive sources in the country, especially for disused medicine equipment. 

During the mission, the IAEA team conducted a detailed radiation survey, confirmed the isotope was Caesium-137, and safely removed the source from a stormwater drain in the former scrap metal facility – which is now the hospital’s maintenance room. The source was then secured in a shielding container provided by the Liberian Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and transported to a secure storage location. The IAEA team also completed a radiological survey of the area and concluded that it was extremely unlikely that anyone had been exposed to levels of radiation high enough to cause health problems. This rapid response helped to alleviate anxiety in members of the public and the hospital staff, and to address misinformation about the potential hazards to health as a result of the incident. 

The Executive Director of the EPA, Emmanuel K. Urey Yarkpawolo said: “The prompt assistance provided by the IAEA demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to building nuclear safety frameworks and supporting Member States in assessing and addressing their unique needs and urgencies. The mission did not only address the immediate concerns of the Liberia Government, but also underscored a proactive approach to preventing small issues from escalating to bigger problems. The quick response by the IAEA during our time of need further highlights the broader scope of the Agency’s work which transcends beyond emergency response to encompass comprehensive assistance.”  

Baciu agreed: “The collaboration with the local authorities was seamless, and their proactive approach facilitated this swift action. Our goal is to provide countries with support to ensure that they are able to respond effectively to any type of emergency, irrespective of scale.  We also encourage more States to join the IAEA’s Assistance Convention, as this allows for quick and formal communication channels to receive assistance and support promptly.” 

IAEA Fact Finding Mission team members conducting a radiation survey and preparing equipment at the JFK Medical Centre during the recovery of a Cs-137 radioactive source from a storm water sump in the hospital’s maintenance room. (Photo: Liberian Environmental Protection Agency).

The IAEA and the Liberian EPA will work together to define ways in which the IAEA can help ensure that all radioactive sources in the country are used and disposed of safely and securely. Among the projects under discussion are assistance to establish a national registry of radiological sources, training for Liberian experts on managing sealed radioactive sources, the provision of equipment and other assistance, improving facilities for nuclear and radiological emergencies, and strengthening the safe and secure management of radioactive sources in Liberia. The IAEA will also continue to support Liberia through its technical cooperation programme, providing training and resources to enhance the country’s capability in the safe and secure management of radioactive sources. 

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IAEA, Honduras and Japan join forces to strengthen Cancer Care Access through Rays of Hope

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Left to right: Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Honduras, Eduardo Enrique Reina García, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, and Director-General/Assistant Minister for the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau of Japan, Yasushi Noguchi. (Fredrik Dahl/IAEA)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Government of Honduras and the Government of Japan have joined forces to expand radiotherapy services and improve cancer care in the Republic of Honduras under the IAEA’s flagship Rays of Hope initiative.

This tripartite cooperation was formalized during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly which is taking place this week in New York, with the signature of a Letter of Intent by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Honduras, Eduardo Enrique Reina García.

Under this tripartite cooperation, Japan will consider, when and where appropriate, offering contributions, including facilities, equipment and infrastructure, to expand radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy facilities in Honduras as well as capacity-building, while the IAEA will explore resources and offer technical expertise and guidance to expand radiotherapy and nuclear medicine services in the country. Honduras, as the recipient, will work towards increasing access to life-saving cancer diagnosis and treatment, helping to address the growing burden of cancer in the region.

This Letter of Intent follows the IAEA Director General Grossi’s visit to Japan in March this year, in which he commended the Diplomatic Initiative toward Latin America and the Caribbean launched by Foreign Minister Kamikawa in February 2024, which underscores Japan’s unwavering support in the region. It builds on the long-standing cooperation between the IAEA and the Government of Japan to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to support development around the world. This cooperation has seen a deeper commitment with Japan’s support for the IAEA initiative “Rays of Hope – Cancer Care for All”, launched by Director General Grossi in February 2022.

Under the Letter of Intent, the following areas of cooperation are included: enhancing facilities, equipment and infrastructure to expand radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy facilities, as well as support in capacity-building through the engagement of multidisciplinary teams of professionals involved in the practices of radiology radiotherapy and nuclear medicine, as appropriate.

“Today’s signing of the Letter of Intent will further help to bring life-saving cancer care to those who need it the most. From the beginning, Japan has been a very strong and generous supporter of Rays of Hope, helping to reduce global imbalances in the access to such care,” Director General Grossi said.

The Rays of Hope initiative is helping low- and middle-income countries establish and expand access to radiation-based medical services, including diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy. Through this initiative, the IAEA, together with its donors and partners, are working to address inequities in cancer treatment and improve survival rates through early detection, diagnosis, and treatment. So far, 86 countries have reached out to the Agency for support under Rays of Hope and concrete actions have been initiated in more than 30 Member States.

In Honduras, the most common cancers require radiotherapy, but many patients have limited or no access to these services in public healthcare institutions. The high cancer mortality rate has prompted President Xiomara Castro to make the availability of specialised radiation therapy equipment and the training of experts a top priority.

Honduras is one of the first eight countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region to receive assistance through the Rays of Hope initiative. Honduras will soon receive mammography equipment and a linear accelerator to deliver life-saving radiotherapy treatment.

This tripartite cooperation is expected to greatly improve the availability and quality of radiation therapy in Honduras and represents the strong commitment of the parties to help save lives and address the disproportionate burden of cancer.

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IAEA Profile: Fuelling Success – Gloria Kwong’s Path to Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Gloria Kwong during a panel at the ATOMEXPO International Forum held from 19-21 June 2017 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo: Rosatom)

The IAEA profiles employees to provide insight into the variety of career paths that support the Agency’s mission of Atoms for Peace and Development and to inspire and encourage readers, particularly women, to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or STEM-adjacent fields. Read more profiles of women at the IAEA.   

Growing up in a conservative, Chinese household in Canada, Gloria Kwong was raised to avoid taking risks and to prioritize her education to help ensure her success.  

Throughout her professional journey, which has led her from Canada to Austria via France, Kwong has always remained committed to her work in the areas of nuclear waste, decommissioning and environmental remediation. During her career, she has navigated challenges in a male-dominated industry and advises young women to follow their passions and embrace new opportunities, even when they come with challenges or risks. 

As a young girl, Kwong aspired to become a professional chef, but her parents encouraged her and her four siblings to focus on their academic studies. After high school, Kwong earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in chemical engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, and within a few years, she advanced to a managerial role at a leading telecommunications company. However, she realized that her passion was in more technically demanding work, eventually leading her to her current role as Head of the Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Section at the IAEA.   

“It may surprise people that my experience working in a managerial position for a telecommunications company impacts my work at the IAEA. Although technical competency is essential, good decision-making, communication, and interpersonal skills are no less important, and this is something that comes in hand every day when I work with my team and colleagues at the Agency. An unconventional professional background does not limit you, but instead provides you with more tools to succeed,” said Kwong. 

Seeking to broaden her horizons, Kwong transitioned to the nuclear field as a design engineer at the Ontario Power Generation Darlington Power Station (OPG) in Toronto. While working as a Senior Engineer at OPG, Kwong pursued her PhD in materials engineering from Imperial College London. It would be years later before Kwong took another career leap – this time across the Atlantic. After over a decade at OPG, which later became the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, she was offered the position of Radioactive Waste Management Specialist at the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in Paris, France. 

Kwong’s career at the NEA was marked by her willingness to take on new challenges and leadership roles. For over 11 years, she held various managerial positions, including Acting Head of the Radioactive Waste Management Division and the Nuclear Technology Development & Economics Division. Her leadership skills and technical insight were recognized, leading to other roles as Deputy Head of the Office of Policy and Coordination, Head of the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation, and eventually, Senior Advisor to the Director-General. 

Like other women working in a male-dominated industry, Kwong made a concerted effort to establish her credibility and earn the respect of her peers. Her career has been filled with professional milestones and unique international experiences, but it has not been without challenges. 

“A big hurdle for women has always been work-life balance and prioritizing career development , but I see more employers, like the IAEA, addressing these matters through educational scholarships that relieve financial burdens, flexible professional development programmes and new, accommodating HR policies, thereby attracting more women to the nuclear sector,” said Kwong. 

After over a decade at the NEA, Kwong left Paris and moved to Vienna to join the IAEA as the Head of the Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation Section. She and her colleagues strive to promote nuclear decommissioning and environmental remediation by supporting sustainable nuclear energy development. They encourage countries to integrate circular economy principles into national decommissioning and radioactive waste management policies, and they facilitate knowledge sharing to promote the efficient use of resources and the safe reuse of materials. 

“I want to contribute to narrowing the energy equity gap to ensure more people can access affordable, sustainable and clean energy. I believe that nuclear power can elevate its contribution to complement other clean energy sources, which is why I believe in the mission and work of the IAEA,” Kwong said.  

Her piece of advice to young women considering a career in the nuclear field: 

“Follow your heart in decision making. Explore other opportunities, and don’t be afraid to take some risks.” 

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The IAEA’s Vital Support of Development and International Security

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

(As prepared for delivery)

President, Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

“The best way to predict the future is to build it.” It is a truth worth remembering, especially when political division, climate change, war, hunger, and disease seem to overshadow our effort.

We have the tools to deal with these challenges. We have the knowledge, the technology, the financial means, the diplomacy and the robust international institutions.

The IAEA serves its 180 Member States with the lifesaving and lifeaffirming tools of nuclear science and technology. These contribute directly to the SDGs.

Health comes first. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 we jumped into action, harnessing our equipment and knowledge for quick and reliable testing against COVID with the portable RT-PCR machines, or “labs in a suitcase”.

We launched what would become the largest emergency operation in the history of IAEA to nearly 130 States. In so doing, we reached tens of millions of people. For some countries these kits were the first, and sometimes the only equipment they had to conduct reliable testing against COVID-19.

Drawing on this and earlier experiencessupporting the fight against Ebola, avian influenza and Zika, we launched – in that same year – the Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC). Under ZODIAC we have trained people from more than 95 countries in dealing with zoonotic diseases. Laboratories in developing countries have received equipment for 3 serology and molecular diagnostic or genetic sequencing. Many of these labs are now being used to combat Mpox.

The IAEA has more than 6 decades of experience in radiotherapy and medical imaging. But today the cancer crisis is hitting low and middleincome countries particularly hard and I am determined to make a greater impact in partnership with our Member States. That is why we launched Rays of Hope: Cancer Care for All at the African Union Summit in February 2022, with firm support from the World Health Organization (WHO). Africa is where the cancer care gap is the starkest: more than 20 African nations lack even a single radiotherapy machine. So far, 86 countries have reached out to the IAEA for support under Rays of Hope and concrete actions have been initiated in more than 30 States.

Under our new initiative, NUTEC: NUclear TEchnology for Controlling Plastic Pollution, 86 States around the world are participating in marine microplastic monitoring using nuclear and isotopic tracing techniques. This will help them to put in place better-informed policies that combat the plastic pollution threatening the ocean, its plants and creatures and therefore also the communities that rely on them for their livelihoods. Some 39 States are participating in plastic recycling using radiation technology, four of which are progressing towards establishing pilot-scale plants. This will allow them to reduce plastic waste and advance towards a circular economy. The Global Marine Monitoring Network continues to grow with 99 States now benefiting from capacity building efforts.

Atoms4Food was launched by the IAEA and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in October 2023. It offers tailor-made approaches in 4 Food and Agriculture, which for years has been the number 1 area of support sought by our Member States. Atoms4Foods supports countries in using innovative nuclear techniques to enhance agricultural productivity, reduce food losses, ensure food safety, improve nutrition, and adapt to the challenges of climate change. This supports farmers as well as the fight against deadly malnutrition.

There is no development without energy. Nuclear power provides about a quarter of the world’s low-carbon electricity. Much more is needed if we are to meet the climate goals set out on the Paris Agreement. In their historic first Global Stocktake, approved at COP28 in Dubai last year, the signatory countries to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change called for accelerating the deployment of low-emission energy technologies including nuclear power. The Pact for the Future adopted yesterday, in Action 26 reaffirmed the inalienable right of all countries to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination, in conformity with their respective obligations.

Today, in addition to the 415 nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries there are 62 reactors under construction in 15 countries, most of them in Asia. The IAEA is assisting States, many of them developing countries, either with enlarging their civilian nuclear programs, or with safely embarking on them. We are working with industry and regulators on small modular reactors (SMRs) which will make more affordable the price of entry to the nuclear energy club.

The IAEA is also playing an important role in maintenance of 5 international peace and security.

Mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), we conduct nuclear safeguards, making sure the increased amount of nuclear material around the world does not result in the secret proliferation of nuclear weapons. There is material for thousands of nuclear warheads in the world. Thanks to the robust international safeguards regime and our inspection system, who never stopped even during the COVID pandemic, the number of nuclear weapon States around the world is far fewer than had been feared before the IAEA was established and the NPT came into force.

The IAEA assists States in the creation and implementation of nuclearweapon-free zones, which already cover vast regions of the world. These are important steps towards a world without nuclear weapons.

Our work in Iran, Syria, other countries of the Middle East, and on different continents, contributes to international stability through nonproliferation and through the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

Since February 2022 a large-scale conventional conflict has raged in a country with a large civilian nuclear program. Ukraine used to generate more than half its electricity from nuclear power plants. From the first months of the war, the IAEA has focused on assisting Ukraine in preventing a radiological or nuclear accident, which could have a serious transborder impact. Today, the IAEA has advisory and assistance missions stationed at all five of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, including Zaporizhzhia, which is located right at the front line. Following months 6 of negotiations and consultations, on 30 May 2023 at the UN Security Council I outlined five concrete principles to help ensure nuclear safety and security at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya NPP. It received strong support from the Members of the Council.

The IAEA continues to monitor the safe discharge of water from the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Station and engages in consultations with neighbouring and coastal countries with strong interest in the process. Our independent analysis and the data we publish relating to the discharge offer facts that dispel misunderstandings and fears about the process.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I firmly believe in supporting the ability of everyone, regardless of gender, to fully benefit and contribute to the IAEA’s work.

Conviction requires action. When I began my tenure as the IAEA’s Director General five years ago, one of my very first actions was to set a goal for gender parity by 2025 and to put in place the policies to achieve a more diverse workforce.

Five years ago, women represented less than 30% of the Agency. Today, they have surpassed 48%.

Mindful of the need to continue helping future generations, I also launched the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme (MSCFP) in 2020. It drives diversity as well as scientific and technological innovation by encouraging women to pursue a career in the nuclear field. Since its launch, hundreds of women from over 120 countries have been awarded fellowships with generous stipends. They have studied in more than 70 7 countries and have also benefited from internships in many areas of the field. Our follow-up program, named after the scientist Lise Meitner, empowers early- and mid-career through career-enhancing opportunities like site visits.

The IAEA is a key multilateral player to make the Pact of the Future a reality. Thank you.

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IAEA Board of Governors Elects New Chairperson for 2024-2025

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Ambassador Philbert Abaka Johnson. (Photo: A. Barber-Huescar/IAEA)

The IAEA Board of Governors elected Ambassador Philbert Abaka Johnson as the Chairperson of the IAEA’s Board of Governors for 2024–2025. His one-year term commences today. He succeeds Ambassador Holger Federico Martinsen of Argentina.

Ambassador Johnson is the Permanent Representative of Ghana to the Agency, the United Nations Offices and other International Organizations in Vienna. Since his appointment in 2020, he has chaired the 54th Session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Subsidiary Body III of the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (FINGOV), the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and the Vienna-based African Group. He is currently serving as Co-Chair for the preparations of the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science, Application and Technology and Technical Cooperation in 2024.

A career diplomat with close to 30 years of experience, Ambassador Johnson’s first diplomatic assignment was in Liberia in 1995. He has since served in multiple Ghana Missions in Switzerland, the Russian Federation, Belgium, Canada and New York and has held numerous positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, including as the first Director of the Diaspora Affairs Bureau in 2014. Before his appointment in Vienna, he was the Director of Africa and Regional Integration Bureau and Head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) National Office from 2019 to 2020 and contributed towards Ghana’s bid to host the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and the establishment of the ECOWAS Early Warning Centre in Accra.

Ambassador Johnson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast, as well as two master’s degrees: a Master’s of International Affairs from the Legon Centre for International Affairs & Diplomacy in Ghana, and a Master’s of International Law and Economics from the World Trade Institute in Switzerland. He has participated in various courses on leadership and diplomacy and was the recipient of the Best Ghana Diplomatic Mission Award for 2024.