ROSATOM took part in the 66th annual session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which was held in Vienna on September, 26-30, 2022. In total 175 IAEA member countries were represented at the Conference in this year.
In his speech at the plenary meeting on September, 26, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of ROSATOM, mentioned the professional and non-politicized approach of the IAEA to its activities and emphasized that cooperation with the Agency proceeded in all main statutory areas. He told about the progress in implementation of the small-scale nuclear power engineering projects and noted importance of continued works in the area of climatic agenda and the nuclear fuel cycle closure.
ROSATOM initiated and arranged topical events held both at the conference venue and online with participation of the speakers representing the major nuclear power engineering organizations from different countries.
Representatives of the IAEA Secretariat, the National Research Institute for Strategic Nuclear Planning of China, ROSATOM and its organizations discussed recognition of modern nuclear technologies as sustainable from the viewpoint of "green" regulation and other issues during the online event devoted to this important subject. Polina Lion, Director of the Sustainable Development Department of ROSATOM and the moderator of the event, noted: "Inclusion of atom into the EU Taxonomy is certainly a positive signal, and we hope that it will enhance the interest in nuclear power engineering on the part of the persons engaged in development of the "green" energy transition strategies not only in the EU but also in other countries of the world".
The round-table discussion on decommissioning of nuclear facilities and management of nuclear wastes gathered more than 70 specialists from 20 countries in the online mode. In the course of the event opening Andrey Rozhdestvin, Vice President of Rusatom International Network and Director of ROSATOM Office in Western Europe, noted that the objectives of safe and efficient decommissioning of nuclear facilities were among the top-priority areas for ROSATOM and of particular importance from the viewpoint of sustainable nuclear industry development within the entire life cycle. Eduard Nikitin, Manager of the Decommissioning Programs of TVEL JSC, presented the experience of ROSATOM in implementation of the nuclear back-end projects in Russia and abroad focusing on the available technologies facilitating efficient solution of the problems in preparation for decommissioning, dismantling, arrangement of the relevant infrastructure, waste management, cleaning and rehabilitation of territories. Implementation of robotics and state-of-the-art digital solutions was also discussed in the course of the event.
In the course of the technical seminar devoted to management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and arrangement of the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) in accordance with the sustainable development criteria the specialists of Techsnabexport JSC and TVEL JSC presented the new product line of ROSATOM - "Balanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle". This product takes into account all needs of the customer in relation to SNF and enables to ensure safe and efficient management of SNF and its processing products. According to Mikhail Baryshnikov, Director of the Innovation and Technology Department of Techsnabexport JSC and the moderator of the seminar, the balanced NFC has been initially developed based on the principles of responsible consumption and production, maximal application of innovative solutions, strong international cooperation, and thus it corresponds to the UN definition of the sustainable development concept to the full extent.
Representatives of the IAEA, the Russian Nuclear Medicine Society, Isotope JSC, the Atomic Energy Institute of Vietnam as well as the audience from various countries from Brazil to Indonesia took part in the seminar "International Cooperation in Arrangement and Development of Regional Nuclear Research, Medicine and Radioisotope Production Centers". According to Dmitry Vysotsky, Vice President of Rusatom Overseas JSC for Non-Energy Nuclear Projects, at present ROSATOM offers a wide range of solutions in this area under the brand "RIVER". The nuclear research and technology center constructed in El Alto, Bolivia, may serve as an illustrative case of such a project. Anton Shargin, Deputy Director General of Isotope JSC for Commercial Affairs, presented the report devoted to the trends in the market of medical isotope products. He said that stable production of radioisotopes for nuclear medicine still remained one of the main objectives achieved with the use of research reactors while the need for radiopharmaceuticals continued to increase all around the world, and assurance of the consistent chain of supplies from the reactor to the end user was the main challenge requiring active international cooperation in order to clear the existing barriers.
The representatives of ROSATOM took part in several events devoted to education and development of human resources in nuclear power engineering. Round-table discussions on review of the current changes in the global labor market and nuclear power engineering, educational programs for the nuclear industry and other tools for development of human resources gathered experts from more than 20 countries. Tatiana Terentieva, Deputy Director General of ROSATOM, noted the following during the round-table discussion "Human-Centered Approach as the Key Factor of Organizational Stability in Nuclear Industry": "The focus on a person, human-centered approach is the thing which will help to maintain the balance of organizational stability and pace for solution of any new problems faced by the nuclear industry".
Due to the innovative format of virtual technical tours developed by the specialists of ROSATOM the participants of the IAEA General Conference could "visit" Leningrad and Beloyarsk NPPs as well as the floating NPP "Academician Lomonosov". The booth of ROSATOM provided the possibility to familiarize with the main activities and products of the corporation and to learn about the advantages of nuclear power engineering and contribution of the Russian nuclear technologies into sustainable development.