By Denis Janin, IYNC President.
An IYNC delegation attended the 60th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from September 26th until 30th in Vienna. The IAEA was created in 1966 and the anniversary of the General Conference was also the anniversary of this United Nation body created 60 years ago. To celebrate this important milestone, the programme of the annual General Conference was particularly dense. Numerous side-events were organized by the staff of the IAEA as well as by its Members States. The various roles of the IAEA in nuclear science and applications were highlighted.
In his opening address, the IAEA Director General, Y. Amano, highlighted the role of nuclear power to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He remarked the unique contribution of the IAEA to international peace and emphasized the activities of the IAEA in non-power nuclear applications such as cancer treatment or food and agriculture development.
IYNC, who was recognized as an observer non-governmental organization by the IAEA in 2013, was offered to hold a booth during the General Conference. As in previous years, this was an opportunity to promote IYNC activities and meet with various leaders from around the world. The IYNC booth was shared with our friends from ENS-YGN and received the support of the OKTG-JG, the Austrian YGN network. Thanks to this joint action, IYNC was able to explain its activities to many visitors. Several contacts were made with new countries interested to join the IYNC network.
The IYNC President Mr. Denis Janin also had the opportunity to meet Mr. Chirayu Batra, President of the United Nations YGN. Several ideas for future cooperation were shared. Moreover a Nuclear4Climate steering committee was organized in parallel to the 60th General Conference. This was an opportunity to discuss the next steps for the initiative. As co-founder of this initiative, IYNC reaffirmed its support to the Nuclear4Climate activities and is actively preparing its participation to the COP22 in Marrakech, later this year, on behalf of the Nuclear4Climate initiative.
The next IAEA General Conference will be held in Vienna in September 2017 and IYNC will surely be there!
