National Atomic Energy Agency

Representatives of 177 member states of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) participated in the IAEA General Conference, which was held for the 67th time. The event attracted a total of more than 2,800 participants – representatives of nuclear regulatory authorities, governmental and non-governmental organizations, institutions working in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. The conference was attended by a delegation of the PAA headed by the President of the National Atomic Energy Agency, Andrzej Głowacki.

Nuclear security in Ukraine, but also in the Middle East, was one of the leading topics of the week-long deliberations at the International Atomic Energy Agency. Participants in the General Conference also discussed opportunities for global cooperation for the development of nuclear science and technology. President of the PAA participated, inter alia, in a panel discussion with the President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and the head of the UK regulatory authority on international cooperation in the context of licensing small modular reactors (SMRs). “In response to the growing interest in SMR technology in Poland, we are adapting our organization to new challenges. We are also recruiting new employees for the area of small modular reactors. We are successively increasing employment throughout the Agency," President of the PAA, Andrzej Głowacki, informed the panel. “We have also created a new team at the PAA that analyzes legal, technical and organizational solutions for SMR technology on an ongoing basis”, the head of the Polish nuclear regulatory authority added.

During the General Conference, the delegation of the PAA held numerous meetings with foreign partners. Andrzej Głowacki discussed plans for further trainings and on-the-job trainings primarily in the area of licensing reactors of US AP1000 technology with US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman, Christopher Hanson. The meeting with Rumina Velshi, head of the Canadian nuclear regulatory authority was largely devoted to further cooperation in the context of BWRX-300 technology. With the president of the Ukrainian nuclear regulatory authority Oleh Korikov, the head of the PAA discussed the current situation at Ukrainian nuclear facilities and further cooperation.

The PAA’s delegation also discussed current challenges in the context of nuclear safety with heads of regulatory authorities from France, the United Arab Emirates, Sweden, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and the Netherlands. The President of the PAA reported, among other things, on the Agency's preparations for licensing AP1000 reactors, activities undertaken in the field of new nuclear technologies, including SMR. The head of the Polish regulatory authority also summarized the second Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission recently completed in Poland.   

This year's IAEA General Conference was held on September 25-29 at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.