Category: Nuclear Weapons

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How Nuclear Tech Could Revolutionise Plastic Recycling

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

How can nuclear science help keep plastic waste out of the ocean and our daily lives?

Nuclear science offers innovative solutions to address plastic pollution across its entire lifecycle. To combat this challenge, we need to understand its root causes. Research indicates that approximately 80 per cent of marine plastic pollution originates on land (with the rest coming from ocean sources such as fishing nets etc.) making land-based interventions critical.

The IAEA is working on two fronts using cutting-edge technologies: firstly, we are using radiation to create bio-based plastics, offering a sustainable alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastics. Simply put, we are working on new materials that are both biodegradable and easily recyclable. This approach not only reduces reliance on fossil fuels but also supports circular economies by turning organic waste into valuable resources.

Secondly, we are using radiation technology to transform plastic waste into more durable, stronger and higher value products. For example, radiation can enhance the performance of concrete by partially replacing cement with recycled plastics. Nuclear techniques are improving the sorting and separation of polymers in mixed plastic waste streams. We’re also exploring how radiation-assisted pyrolysis can convert plastics into waxes, fuels and other valuable chemical additives.

If we treat plastics using radiation, won’t the new products be dangerous?

Not at all — in fact, quite the opposite. Radiation is considered a form of ‘green chemistry’ because it allows us to process materials without using toxic chemicals or extreme conditions like high temperature or pressure. When we use radiation to create new bio-based plastics or upcycle plastic waste, the process is clean, efficient and environmentally friendly.

And the radiation itself does not remain in the material. Just like when you get a dental X ray, the radiation passes through but doesn’t stay with you. The same principle applies here: the materials are not radioactive after treatment and are completely safe to use.

You mentioned using nuclear technology to improve plastic recycling. Is this already happening?

We have 52 countries collaborating with the IAEA on novel upcycling efforts under the NUTEC Plastics initiative. Nine of them are pilot countries, marking a major step forward in turning innovation into reality. These countries are advancing rapidly along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale — a globally recognized nine-stage framework that tracks the maturity of technologies from concept to commercial deployment.

We’re already seeing exciting, tangible results.

In Indonesia and the Philippines, wood-plastic composites are being developed for sustainable construction.  In Malaysia, plastic waste is being converted into fuel. In Argentina, durable railroad sleepers made from recycled plastics are showing strong performance in early trials.

These pilot projects are not just proof of concept — they are proof of progress. We anticipate several of these technologies reaching the final TRL stages and moving toward full-scale implementation as early as next year.

Why, as a scientist, did you choose to go into this field?

I’ve always believed that science should serve as a catalyst for meaningful, lasting change. That belief led me to focus on plastic upcycling and the search for alternatives to petroleum-based materials — areas where innovation can directly address the environmental crises we face today.

With over 30 years of experience working with ionizing radiation, I’ve seen firsthand its untapped potential to transform waste into valuable resources. This work is more than research — it’s a commitment to building a circular economy that safeguards our ecosystems, reduces human carbon footprint, and leaves a healthier, more resilient planet for future generations.

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Press Arrangements for IAEA Board of Governors Meeting, 9-13 June 2025

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors will convene its regular June meeting at the Agency’s headquarters at 10:00 CEST on Monday, 9 June, in Board Room C, Building C, 4th floor, in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). 

Board discussions are expected to include, among others: Annual Report for 2024; strengthening of the Agency’s technical cooperation activities: Technical Cooperation Report for 2024; Report of the Programme and Budget Committee; verification and monitoring in the Islamic Republic of Iran in light of United Nations Security Council resolution 2231 (2015); staff of the Department of Safeguards to be used as Agency inspectors; Safeguards Implementation Report for 2024; 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; designation of members to serve on the Board in 2025–2026; provisional agenda for the 69th regular session of the General Conference; restoration of the sovereign equality of Member States in the IAEA; and representation of other organizations at the 69th regular session of the General Conference.

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 CEST on Monday, 9 June, 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 9 June at 10:00 CEST in Board Room C, in the C building in the VIC. 

Press Working Area 

The Press Room of the M building’s ground floor will be available as a press working area, starting from 09:00 CEST on 9 June.

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 CEST on Friday, 6 June. 

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. 

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Update 294 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi was in Ukraine today as part of the ongoing efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help prevent a nuclear accident during the military conflict, with the wail of air raid sirens forcing one of his meetings to be held in an underground shelter.

One of the main priorities of the one-day visit to Kyiv – including a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – was to discuss how the IAEA could assist in rebuilding Ukraine’s damaged and degraded nuclear energy infrastructure.

But the current risks to nuclear safety and security remained a prominent topic, both in the day’s high-level meetings in the capital and in reports from some of the IAEA teams deployed elsewhere in the country.   

IAEA expert teams based at two of Ukraine’s operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy and Rivne – were also told to seek shelter during a day of unusually frequent air raid alerts. The team at the Rivne NPP, in western Ukraine, went to the shelter three times, two of which were reportedly due to cruise missile alerts and the other due to a ballistic missile alert.

While there were no reports of attacks affecting the operation of the NPPs, the sound of air raid sirens blaring in Kyiv and elsewhere highlighted the continued dangerous situation, including for nuclear safety.

In his first meeting after arriving to the capital for his 12th visit to Ukraine since February 2022, Director General Grossi met with Energy Minister German Galushchenko and other senior officials in the basement of the Energy Ministry in downtown Kyiv because of the air raid alarm.

Later in the day, he met with President Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, with whom he also discussed the IAEA’s plans to support the country in restoring and expanding its infrastructure related to nuclear power, which is of paramount importance for Ukraine’s electricity generation.

“It is clear that the dangers to nuclear safety continue to be very real and ever-present. My teams report that this was the most intense day of air raid alarms they had experienced since late last year. More than three years after this horrific war began, the IAEA’s on the ground presence remains essential to help avoid the threat of a severe nuclear accident,” Director General Grossi said.

“But at the same time, we must start looking to the future. While the IAEA remains committed to doing everything we can to help keep Ukraine’s nuclear facilities safe and secure until this devastating war ends, it is also crucial to prepare for the reconstruction phase, where the IAEA can also play an important role,” he said. “In today’s meetings, President Zelensky and his ministers voiced strong support and appreciation for the IAEA’s continued presence at Ukraine’s nuclear sites and our essential role in helping to strengthen its energy infrastructure.”

Specifically, the Director General spoke to his hosts about the IAEA conducting a thorough safety assessment of the damaged New Safe Confinement (NSC) at the Chornobyl site, as well as the Agency’s safety assistance related to a government plan to build two new reactor units at the Khmelnytskyy site and its technical work to help keep the national grid stable, which is of crucial importance for the safe operation of NPPs.

At Ukraine’s largest NPP, Zaporizhzhya, the IAEA team was informed that the nearby city of Enerhodar – where most plant staff live – had experienced several power outages since midnight, with intermittent tap water supplies also affecting the plant itself. The IAEA team was also informed that the city and its water pump station have relied on mobile diesel generators for power. The Zaporizhzhya NPP remained connected to off-site power at all times.

Later this week, Director General Grossi will also be visiting the Russian Federation for high-level talks on nuclear safety and security.

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IAEA Kicks Off International Radiation Oncology Conference

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications Najat Mohktar and IAEA Director of the Division of Human Health May Abdel-Wahab together with Lebanon’s Minister of Labour Mohammad Haidar during the opening ceremony of ICARO-4. (Photo : D. Calma/IAEA)

The fourth International Conference on Advances in Radiation Oncology (ICARO-4) is underway this week at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, bringing together participants from around the world to examine the latest advances in treating cancer with radiation.

Opening the conference, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications Najat Mokhtar urged attendees to remember inclusivity as they discuss recent innovations ranging from new techniques to the use of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. “The future of radiotherapy, and of cancer care more broadly, must be equitable. For this, patients [and practitioners] must be at the centre of all we do.”

Although more than half of all cancer patients need radiotherapy at some point, access to this life-saving treatment remains out of reach for far too many. To meet the target of one machine per 500 patients, low-income countries on average need eight times more machines than currently available, the IAEA-led Lancet Oncology Commission on Radiotherapy and Theranostics found. In terms of human resources, the global radiation medicine workforce of 2022 must expand by more than 60 percent to respond to the 35.3 million new cancer cases and limit the potential 18.5 million deaths anticipated by 2050.

“Through shared commitment, we can ensure that radiation medicine continues to serve as a force for healing, resilience and sustainable growth in every corner of the world,” said Mohammad Haidar, Lebanon’s Minister of Labor, during the opening ceremony. He noted that Lebanon is strengthening education and training, creating sustainable job opportunities through investments in medical infrastructure and ensuring the well-being and dignity of its workers. These combined efforts, he added, will help improve healthcare outcomes, support the country’s broader economic recovery and contribute to its national development goals.

“The IAEA’s commitment to science, education and international cooperation has helped shape a new future for Lebanon — one in which human capital is at the centre of this progress,” he said. “Let us continue working together; let us turn dialogue into action and challenges into opportunity.” 

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Deadline Extended for Call for Papers: Conference on Resilience of Nuclear Installations

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

“The resilience of nuclear installations can be viewed as the ability of the installation to quickly return to its original safety state after the occurrence of a potentially damaging event such as an earthquake, hurricane, or aircraft crash,” said Paolo Contri, Head of the IAEA Section of External Events Safety.  

He added: “Resilience is coupled with the concept of robustness against external hazards, which encompasses the development of engineering solutions in siting, design and operation phases, that can support the response to extreme scenarios, but also to emerging challenges, or unknown threats, as well as planning, response and recovery strategies.” 

Contributors interested in submitting papers for the conference can find the topics of interest here, which includes areas such as the identification and analysis of external hazards, the consideration of uncertainties in hazard analyses and events resulting from combined hazards; and the impact of external hazards on nuclear installations and radioactive waste disposal facilities as well as the safety features of innovative new reactor designs and their contribution to resilience. 

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IAEA Team Concludes Site and External Events Design Review for El Salvador’s First Nuclear Power Plant

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

An IAEA team of experts visited the candidate sites of El Salvador’s first nuclear power plant during a Site and External Events Design Review Service mission. (Photo: CEL)

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts has concluded a six-day safety review of El Salvador’s site selection process for its first nuclear power plant (NPP). The Central American country is embarking on a nuclear power programme to diversify its energy mix and to provide a clean and reliable source of energy to support economic development.

The Site and External Events Design Review Service (SEED) mission, which took place between 26 to 31 May, reviewed El Salvador’s adherence to IAEA guidance on the site selection process. The SEED mission was carried out at the request of the Government of El Salvador and hosted by the Organization for the Implementation of the Nuclear Energy Program in El Salvador (OIPEN) and the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL). The SEED mission was the first of its kind in El Salvador.

El Salvador is completing the site selection process based on a comprehensive methodology that integrates geospatial data analysis, national regulations and existing public infrastructure.

The SEED review team comprised three experts from Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as two IAEA staff members. They reviewed the site selection report, together with the siting process, siting criteria and data collection process for siting activities.

The team also visited and observed the candidate sites located in Chalatenango – about 40 kilometres northeast of the capital San Salvador – and San Vicente – about 70 kilometres east of San Salvador.

In addition to the SEED review mission, the IAEA provided a SEED Capacity Building Workshop to support site evaluation, which includes the site characterization stage. During the workshop, external experts and participants engaged in discussions that will contribute to future progress in the site evaluation process.

“We confirmed that CEL independently developed exclusion criteria for site screening and effectively narrowed down the areas of the country with the lowest external hazard risks. This can be considered a good practice for minimizing risks,” said mission team leader Kazuyuki Nagasawa, Senior Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA.

The team provided recommendations to improve the quality and to optimize the site selection process, aiming to select the most favourable site. This optimization seeks to minimize the potential for the selected site to be found unsuitable during the site characterization stage. The factors to be considered include seismic, flooding and volcanic hazards. It’s also important to balance site characteristics with specific design features, site protection measures and administrative procedures from the early stages of the site selection process.

“From the early stages of the site selection process, we have been guided by the technical guidance of the IAEA, rigorously applying its physical safety standards to ensure that this process follows a technical, transparent and responsible approach for all Salvadorans,” said Daniel Alvarez, President of CEL and Honorary Director of OIPEN.

OIPEN and CEL will continue to receive technical support from the IAEA, as they advance from the site selection stage and move into the subsequent site characterization stage, in line with the IAEA Specific Safety Guide on Site Survey and Site Selection for Nuclear Installations, as well as other relevant Safety Guides for external hazards assessment.

The final SEED mission report will be delivered to the Government of El Salvador within three months.

About Site and External Events Design Review Service (SEED) missions

SEED missions are expert review missions that assist countries going through different stages in the development of a nuclear power programme. The service offers a choice of modules in which to focus the review, such as site selection, site assessment and design of structures, systems and components, taking into consideration site specific external and internal hazards.

In the case of site selection review, SEED missions assess the appropriate consideration of the safety issues in the site selection process.

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IAEA Teaches Fukushima Students Environmental Remediation

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The lectures, based on the IAEA Safety Standards, covered the basics of radiation and radiation monitoring, environmental remediation and decontamination and radioactive waste management. Students also attended a workshop in which they used different devices to detect and measure radiation in various environmental samples such as soil and minerals.

“I would expect that the IAEA lectures will motivate Fukushima Prefecture university students to learn more about environmental radiation as a subject and the current state of environmental remediation in the prefecture,” said Hiroshi Aoki, then Director General of the Fukushima Prefectural Centre for Environmental Creation.

“We hope the younger generation will learn from the collective knowledge and experience of the IAEA and apply this to the next steps for reconstruction and revitalization in Fukushima Prefecture, which would also contribute to international nuclear safety,” added Kenichiro Tanaka, Director of the International Nuclear Cooperation Division at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The programme, a pilot exercise that took place at the end of 2024, was requested by the Government of Japan under a cooperation agreement with the IAEA that started in 2012 and will run until 2027. Under the agreement, the IAEA has been assisting Fukushima Prefecture in activities related to radiation monitoring, environmental remediation, decontamination and waste management, in line with IAEA safety standards.

“After the lectures I hope to be able to share accurate information about radiation with those around me, when the topic comes up on television or other media,” said Hiroki Furuchi, a student at Higashi Nippon International University.

The feedback from this first course will be collected and used by the IAEA to further adapt the content to the prefecture’s needs in line with IAEA Safety Standards, before returning to Fukushima to continue the programme at more universities in 2025.

Read more about the cooperation between Fukushima Prefecture and the IAEA on radiation safety since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident here.

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IAEA Hosts World’s First Major Gathering of Nuclear Community Leaders

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Rafael Mariano Grossi, IAEA Director General, with mayors attending the International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes 2025 held at the Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. (Photo D.Calma/IAEA)

The IAEA hosted the world’s first major gathering of communities with nuclear facilities, with scores of mayors and other local representatives from around the globe, including indigenous peoples, sharing their experiences and insights. 

“As some have said, and I think rightly so, all politics are local, and everything is local,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi addressed the participants of the first International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes.  

“Nuclear energy is a job creating activity. It is an activity that brings highly skilled workers. It is an activity that creates and nurtures professions with its incredible diversity.  

“Nuclear, from the perspective of a community, a human community, is a lifetime engagement. It is a longstanding commitment and engagement that lasts for generations and shapes the lives of all those who are living there,” he added.  

Hosting a nuclear facility, whether a nuclear power plant, uranium mine or related site, is a major endeavour involving significant local community participation. Project success requires transparent communication, a two-way dialogue centring local perspectives to address concerns, maximize benefits and enable long-term sustainability. Participants agree that for enduring results and host community satisfaction, meaningful conversations that consider the full spectrum of opinions should begin at an early stage and be held on a regular basis. 

Throughout the event, host community leaders from across the globe highlighted the benefits of hosting a nuclear facility while also addressing challenges. They pointed to incentives such as job creation, funding for infrastructure and support for regional development as reasons why hosting nuclear facilities has been a boon for their communities.  A joint statement, thus far endorsed by 69 nuclear community leaders from 26 countries, was released during the event and remains open for additional endorsements. It emphasizes the essential role played by host communities in enabling the sustainable development and operation of nuclear technologies. The statement also underscores a commitment to “working with our citizens, policymakers, national governments and industry leaders to responsibly shape together a sustainable and inclusive future, acknowledging the vital role that nuclear energy plays in powering our lives, communities and countries.” 

The weeklong stakeholder engagement conference, a first-of-kind event in IAEA history which concludes on 30 May, features panel sessions, flash talks and side events on numerous topics relevant to stakeholder engagement and communication for nuclear power programmes. The plenary session livestream can be viewed here. Livestreams of all conference sessions are available on the IAEA Conferences and Meetings mobile application. 

“This week’s historic gathering of nuclear host communities is just the beginning of what I am sure it will be a very successful future for this new dimension of the nuclear family, which is the family of the communities – mayors, cities, towns – all over the world that are hosting nuclear facilities,” said Mr Grossi.  

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Update 293 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

The off-site power situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) remains extremely fragile, with Europe’s largest such site currently relying on just one single power line for essential nuclear safety and security functions compared with ten before the military conflict, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The ZNPP’s last 330 kilovolt (kV) back-up line remains disconnected three weeks after the plant lost access to it on 7 May and it is unclear when it will be restored. As a result, the six-reactor plant depends entirely on its sole functioning 750 kV line to receive the external electricity it needs to operate the plants’ nuclear safety systems, and to cool its nuclear fuel.

Since the conflict began in early 2022, the ZNPP has eight times lost access to all off-site power, but it was usually restored within a day.

“Even though the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has not been operating for some three years now, its reactor cores and spent nuclear fuel still require continuous cooling, for which electricity is needed to run the water pumps. For this reason, the highly vulnerable power situation remains deeply concerning and we are following it very closely,” said Director General Grossi, who will visit Kyiv and Russia next week as part of his regular contacts with both sides to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict.

The IAEA team based at the ZNPP has continued to monitor and assess other aspects of nuclear safety and security during the past week, conducting a walkdown to measure and confirm stable levels of cooling water in the site’s 12 sprinkler ponds and visiting its two fresh fuel storage facilities, where no nuclear safety or security issues were observed.

The IAEA team reported hearing military activities on most days over the past week, at different distances away from the ZNPP.

At Ukraine’s three operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine – three of their total of nine reactors are in planned outage for refueling and maintenance.

The IAEA teams at these sites also continued to hear indications of military activities nearby. At the South Ukraine NPP, the IAEA staff members saw a drone being shot at by anti-aircraft fire in the evening of 23 May. The plant reported that 10 drones were observed 2.5 km south of the site on the same evening. At the Chornobyl site, two drones were reported flying five km from the site, also on 23 May.  The IAEA team at the Khmelnytskyy NPP was required to shelter onsite on Monday this week.

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#LetsTalkNuclear: Stakeholder Engagement Conference Kicks Off in Vienna

Source: International Atomic Energy Agency – IAEA

Dialogue between IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and filmmaker Robert Stone, who made the pro-nuclear documentaty Pandora’s Promise, moderated by nuclear energy influencer Isabelle Boemeke. (Photo: D.Calma/IAEA)

The first IAEA International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes kicked off today in Vienna, with more than 500 participants from around the world arriving to advance the global conversation. 

The weeklong conference, which is unique in IAEA history and is livestreamed here, began with a dialogue between IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and filmmaker Robert Stone. Mr Stone’s 2013 documentary Pandora’s Promise reignited the debate about nuclear power and championed its benefits as a clean, reliable and sustainable energy source, shortly after Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi accident had prompted some countries to reconsider its use or to phase it out altogether. 

Isabelle Boemeke, a prominent nuclear energy influencer known as Isodope, moderated the talk between Mr Stone and Mr Grossi, who since taking the IAEA helm in 2019 has helped lead a global conversation on the role on nuclear power for climate change mitigation and energy security, by highlighting the science and facts. 

“We are not nuclear lobbyists. What we believe is that the peaceful use of nuclear energy is a beneficial thing,” Mr Grossi said. “You may have it or not, but the very first step should be an enlightened, honest debate about how countries can benefit.” 

The opening film of the conference highlighted how public and political opinion is shifting in favour of nuclear power.

New Global Consensus

While global support for nuclear power declined in the years after the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the picture is very different today. A global consensus on accelerating its deployment coalesced at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, where a pledge to triple global nuclear capacity by 2050 was announced that has now been backed by more than 30 countries. However, maximizing the potential of nuclear power will requires robust stakeholder engagement that consider the concerns and interests of everyone from the general public and government officials to regulators, industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

Director General Grossi and Mr Stone reflected on how perceptions of nuclear power have changed in recent years, the importance of debunking myths, and why creating clean energy abundance and energy security are priorities. The dialogue concluded with a look at what’s ahead for nuclear power. 

“I think there is this struggle to point out that nuclear is in fact absolutely necessary. The growth in energy demand all over the world is so dramatic. Renewables are growing, but we have not reduced the amount of fossil fuels. The percentage of fossil fuels to clean energy has remained static since the turn of the century,” said Stone. “So, I think that is the next front in terms of making the case for nuclear energy.”   

The opening day’s first panel featured speakers spanning the gamut of stakeholders including government officials, leaders from municipalities that host nuclear facilities, financial experts, newcomer countries, Indigenous Peoples and NGOs. The panellists from Argentina, Belgium, Finland, Jordan, Kenya, the United States of America and the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation (Canada) discussed issues such as nuclear facility host community engagement, misinformation and how incentives such as scholarships and other educational opportunities can be an effective component of stakeholder engagement. 

Learning Lessons

Stakeholder engagement for nuclear power has been done for many years, evolving as lessons are learned and implemented. The conference’s second panel brought together experts to discuss how practices for engaging communities, regulators, industry and media have improved over the years in line with shifting societal perceptions and expectations.  

Around 30 newcomer countries are currently either considering the introduction of nuclear power or have embarked on developing a programme. The third and final panel of the day showcased stakeholder engagement for newcomers, three of which (Bangladesh, Egypt and Türkiye) are already constructing their first nuclear power plants. 

The conference, for which 627 participants registered from 81 countries and 17 international organizations, was organized to help meet increasing demand for support on stakeholder engagement for nuclear power programmes as well as to serve as a global platform for exchange among nuclear communities worldwide. The weeklong programme includes panel sessions, side events and flash talks, as well as a special event featuring around 80 mayors and representatives from host communities around the world. The event, ‘Nuclear Communities and Mayors in Focus’, will take place on 27 May and serve as an opportunity for these community leaders to share their experiences and exchange ideas. 

Nuclear Art Contest

The conference also features an international nuclear art contest. Much as the Pop Art movement in the 1960s revolutionized the way society viewed mass culture and consumerism, Nuclear Pop! asked artists to reclaim nuclear energy’s cultural narrative — from fear and fallout to innovation and sustainability. More than 400 works were submitted for the contest, organized by Generation Atomic, and a selection of the best are on display at the IAEA headquarters this week. 

“We are living in such a unique moment where public acceptance, government support, and even big venture capital money is going into nuclear,” said Boemeke.  “Keep putting the stories out there, keep engaging with the communities.”