The annual session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was held in Vienna in the week of 18th – 22nd September 2017.
The Conference focused on safety, security, safeguards and technical cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy and technologies as well as on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in Iran and on North Korea’s threats.
Click on the links here below to read the keynote speech of the IAEA Director General, Yukiya Amano, who has been reappointed for a third term of office, and the statement delivered by Ambassador Maria Assunta Accili, Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organizations in Vienna and Head of the Italian Delegation.
https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/gc61-italy-statement.pdf
Italy participated in the General Conference also by organizing two side events in collaboration with SOGIN, the state-owned company responsible for the decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme of Italy, and with ENEA, the Italian National Agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development.
The first side event, entitled “International Peer Review of the SOGIN Decommissioning and Radioactive Waste Management Programme in Italy”, presented the early outcomes of the ARTEMIS mission conducted by the IAEA in Italy. The mission was the first example of a Peer Review of a decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme.
The side event was opened by the unveling of a bust of Italian physicist and Nobel Laureate Enrico Fermi which was donated by Italy to the IAEA in the presence of Director General Yukiya Amano (http://www.sogin.it/it/sala-stampa/sala-stampa.html).
The side event organized by ENEA illustrated instead the Italian contribution to international projects on innovative nuclear technologies regarding generation IV nuclear reactors, decommissioning and fusion energy. ENEA was also present with an exhibition stand aimed at giving international visibility to the Italian nuclear industry and research. Through interactive devices, posters and scale models, the stand featured advanced technologies for the development of nuclear systems and components for both the fission and the fusion sectors.
Italy also took part in the Scientific Forum of the General Conference whose subject this year was nuclear applications in the medical field. The Italian National Institute of Health presented the international project TOP-IMPLART, aimed at developing an extremely innovative particle accelerator for radiotherapy.
