Abu Dhabi (Etihad)
Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stressed the importance of the UAE’s efforts and the support it provides to strengthen the agency’s safeguards activities to prevent nuclear proliferation at the global level.
This came during the participation of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, the regulatory body for the nuclear sector in the UAE, last week in the three-day meeting of coordinators of the Member States Support Program, which was organized and held at the headquarters of the International Agency in Vienna, Austria.
The Authority presented the UAE's safeguards support programme, which was signed with the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2023, and which the Authority is implementing.
The program is considered the first of its kind in the Middle East, as it helps the international agency support its strategic plans and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of safeguards. The Authority employs its national and international expertise to support the safeguards needs of the international agency.
The UAE Safeguards Support Program will include cooperation with member states in various fields such as research, development, and testing of equipment and programs, as well as providing training courses on safeguards.
Raoul Awad, Deputy Director General for Operations at the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation, said: Joining the IAEA Member States Support Program aims to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s safeguards system, and our contributions in this framework will be sustainable, constructive and practical, and we will share expertise. UAE in this regard, as well as supporting the development of new equipment and technologies to help the international agency implement its vital mission to prevent nuclear proliferation globally.
It is noteworthy that nuclear safeguards are a set of technical measures included in bilateral agreements signed between the International Agency and a country, as the agency implements them and issues reports to the international community that nuclear materials are used for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA's Member State Support Program was established in 1977 and consists of 24 countries. It assists in implementing safeguards, as well as providing equipment and techniques currently used by IAEA inspectors in their inspection operations around the world, and supporting the Agency's capabilities in this regard. For example, the Analytical Laboratory Network, which consists of 24 laboratories in Member States and the European Commission, analyzes nuclear materials and environmental samples on behalf of the Agency and to support its work at its laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria.
The UAE Nuclear Law stipulates that the Authority shall monitor the nuclear sector in the country for its peaceful purposes. In this regard, the Commission issued a regulation to control the import and export of nuclear materials and equipment related to the nuclear field and for dual use in the same field.
The Authority supervises the nuclear sector in the country, as the Import and Export Control Section of the Authority’s Safeguards Department works to issue licenses to companies that deal with controlled substances and also conducts an inspection of licensees in cooperation with the local and federal authorities in the country to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations.
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