Ambassador Debora Lepre, Permanent Representative to the International Organisations in Vienna, represented Italy this week at the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which our country is currently a member.
The main items on the agenda of the session were: Ukraine, where the ongoing hostilities and the attacks against energy infrastructure are further compromising the safety and security of nuclear power plants, starting from Zaporizhzhya; the proliferation risks connected with the Iranian nuclear activities and the need for Teheran to restore an effective collaboration with the IAEA; the new phase that has started in Syria and the role of the Agency, as part of the international efforts, in key areas for regional and global security; the rhetoric and nuclear programmes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
At the centre of attention was also the latest developments in the field of nuclear research and nuclear applications, with a focus on the potential of small modular reactors and energy fusion, as well as on the civil applications of nuclear sciences, within the framework of the flagship initiatives launched by the IAEA Director General, Grossi. “Italy supports the IAEA’s commitment for an exclusively peaceful use of nuclear applications and recognizes the important role of nuclear energy and technology”, underlined Amb. Lepre, highlighting the numerous collaborations between the Agency and Italy, in the fields of education, research & development, food safety and security, medicine and capacity building for developing countries.
