The annual session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held in Vienna in the week of 17-21 September 2018.
Core topics of the Conference were safety, security, safeguards, nuclear applications and technical cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and technologies. At the opening of the Conference, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano pointed out the crucial importance of the Agency’s work for the preservation of international peace and security, and emphasized the positive results of the capacity- building and technology-transfer programmes led by the Agency in Developing Countries. The General Director also stressed the Agency’s role in monitoring the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and confirmed its readiness to verify the North Korean nuclear programme, as soon as the political situation would allow it.
Click here to read the keynote speech of IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano.
The Italian delegation was led by the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Manlio Di Stefano. In his statement, the Undersecretary confirmed the Italian support to the implementation of the safeguards system and non-proliferation agreements as well as the national commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety and security. The Undersecretary further presented Italian initiatives aiming to promote research and develop technologies related to nuclear applications in the physical, medical, environmental and agricultural fields.
Click here to read the statement delivered by the Head of the Italian Delegation, Manlio Di Stefano.
Italy’s participation in the General Conference also involved the organization of a side event in collaboration with SOGIN, the state-owned company responsible for the Italian decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme. The side event, entitled “Review of Sogin’s plans for dismantling of Garigliano and Trino reactor pressure vessels and internals: Results”, presented the outcomes of the second ARTEMIS mission conducted by the IAEA in Italy. This mission was a natural follow-up to the first ARTEMIS mission, which is at the moment the only example of a Peer Review of a decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme. At the event SOGIN was represented by SOGIN President and CEO, whereas the IAEA was represented by the Deputy Director General of Department of Nuclear Energy, the Director of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology, and the Review coordinators of the ARTEMIS mission. In their presentations, both sides expressed great satisfaction for the remarkable results of the collaboration.
Italy also took part in the Scientific Forum of the General Conference, entitled: “Nuclear Technology for Climate: Mitigation, Monitoring and Adaptation”. In this framework, the Italian IAEA Collaborating Centre Centro Agricoltura Ambiente “G.Nicoli” presented nuclear applications used to fight invasive mosquito species, and in particular to the so-called “Sterile Insect Technique”.
CAEN, leading company in the sector of nuclear electronic equipment, organized an exhibition stand presenting technological solutions and measurement systems for the enhancement of safety in nuclear reactors and in the whole nuclear fuel cycle.
Finally, a representative of the Italian Society for Non-Destructive Testing – Associazione Italiana Prove non Distruttive (AIPnD), Mr. Dario Foppoli, was invited to speak at a side event entitled “Non-Destructive Testing: Methods and Techniques for Civil Structures in Pre- and Post-Management of Natural Disasters”, organized by the IAEA Nuclear Energy Department. Mr. Foppoli, who has been collaborating with the IAEA for the implementation of a technical cooperation project aiming to promote non-destructive testing in the civil sector in Latin America, shared the Italian experience in the application of non- destructive nuclear tests for the assessment of vulnerability and damages in the seismic field.
