The Forth Review Meeting of the Joint Convention on Safety of Spent Fuel Management and Safety of Radioactive Waste Management was held in Vienna from 14 to 23 May 2012.
Fifty-four Contracting Parties participated in the Review Meeting and assessed national reports on compliance with the obligations of the Joint Convention.
The UAE delegation was headed by Ambassador Hamad Alkaabi, Permanent Representative to the IAEA, and presented by Senior UAE officials including Dr. William Travers, Director General of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
The aim of the Convention is to achieve and maintain a high level of safety standards in facilities for the disposal of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and radioactive waste. Also, it pursues the establishment and maintenance for long term measure to safeguard against potential hazards with radiological impact in such disposal facilities.
In order to fulfill these goals, the UAE presented its first national report to the Review Meeting and answered questions asked by other Parties.
The UAE received forty-one questions from participating parties mostly focusing on UAE plans and long-term strategies. Moreover, the Parties showed interest in UAE’s strategy on orphan sources and management of disused sealed sources.
UAE’s systematic approach to develop national nuclear waste strategy is noted as "exemplary" by the other Parties and Rapporteurs of the Review Meeting.
There are currently 60 Parties to the Convention. United Arab Emirates has been a Party since 2009.
