A round table on nuclear infrastructure was held as part of ATOMEXPO-2024

Speakers discussed opportunities for the IAEA and nuclear vendor countries in the field of infrastructure development in “newcomer countries”

On March 26, 2024, as part of the XIII International Forum ATOMEXPO 2024 in Sochi, a round table "Nuclear Infrastructure: Drivers of Nuclear Projects" was organized by Rosatom State Corporation. At the round table, speakers discussed issues as the development of nuclear infrastructure and the implementation of nuclear projects, especially in newcomer countries.

The event was attended by representatives of ROSATOM, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), authorities, regulators and operating organizations of countries implementing or planning to develop nuclear power programmes (the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Turkey, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and other). The moderator was Kammar Mrabit, Senator of the Parliament of Morocco, and former Director General of the Moroccan Agency for Nuclear and Radiation Safety and Security.

Kammar Mrambit opened the discussion noting: "For a successful implementation of a NPP programme, it is necessary to establish and sustain an adequate nuclear infrastructure that provides governmental, legal, regulatory, industrial, human resource and stakeholder involvement throughout its life cycle. In this regard, the IAEA assistance and the technology vendor support could contribute to the development and continuous improvement of such nuclear infrastructure. "

Speakers from the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Teklemariam Tessema and Myo Thein Kyaw spoke about the importance of nuclear energy development for achieving sustainable development goals and action plans to implement national nuclear power programmes with the assistance of the IAEA and the technology vendor country.

The representative of the operating organization of the Arab Republic of Egypt Mohamed Ramadan Badawy shared his experience in improving nuclear infrastructure as part of the implementation of the country's nuclear power programme.

Representatives of the regulatory authorities of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation Olga Lugovskaya and Alexey Ferapontov elaborated on the importance of establishing a regulatory framework as one of the key elements of nuclear infrastructure development.

In particular, Alexey Ferapontov, Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Supervision (Rostechnadzor) shared his experience noting: “The creation of a regulatory framework in the field of nuclear energy use is being carried out in the context of dynamically developing nuclear technologies and the updating of IAEA safety standards. The development and revision of regulations and rules is an ongoing process. Rostechnadzor is authorized to assist in the development of national regulatory systems of countries and actively cooperates with about 40 countries.”

At the end of the round table discussion, the IAEA Deputy Director General Mikhail Chudakov illustrated the IAEA's services in the field of nuclear infrastructure development.