From 11-15 April, officials from the UAE participated in a major conference to exchange information and share best practices in nuclear regulation with representatives from the nuclear energy sectors of IAEA Member States.
The International Conference on Effective Nuclear Regulatory Systems: Sustaining Improvements Globally was hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
The Conference brought together senior nuclear safety and nuclear security regulators to review and assess ways of further improving the effectiveness of regulatory systems for nuclear facilities and activities for nuclear safety and nuclear security.
The UAE delegation to the Conference included H.E. Ambassador Hamad Alkaabi, Permanent Representative to the IAEA, Christer Viktorsson, FANR’s Director General, and Salah Al Hashimi, Director of the Government Communications Department of FANR.
During the week-long Conference, participants discussed a wide range of issues focused on regulatory lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi accident; challenges in regulating nuclear installations; challenges in regulating radiation sources and radioactive waste; strengthening international cooperation, as well as enhancing regulatory competence.
UAE efforts were shared on overcoming challenges relating to the development of relatively new regulatory body with regard to regulating nuclear reactor construction, commissioning and preparation for operation.
In a keynote address Christer Viktorsson, FANR Director General, outlined the country’s regulatory framework for safety, security and safeguards, and further described the inspection programme set up by FANR to verify construction and pre-operational testing undertaken by the licensee.
FANR also outlined the content of the operating license application and the focus areas for the regulatory review and assessment of the UAE’s nuclear power plant.
Established in 2009, FANR is the UAE’s nuclear regulatory body aimed at ensuring long-term safety, security and sustainability in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and ionising radiation in the UAE.
The UAE has been actively supporting the Agency in its efforts in the area of nuclear safety.
In October 2013, the UAE hosted an International Conference in the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources: Maintaining the Continuous Global Control of Sources throughout their Life Cycle, co-organized by the IAEA, which focused on the importance of maintaining strong control over radiation sources, and brought together more than 420 nuclear officials from 100 countries and 13 regional and international organizations.
The results and recommendations from the Conference are made available on the IAEA website.
