Konferenciakalauz

Objective

The purpose of the symposium is to foster dialogue and information exchange involving Member States, the nuclear industry and members of the broader nuclear non-proliferation community to prepare for future verification challenges.

Background

Every four years, the IAEA Department of Safeguards organizes a safeguards symposium. The symposium provides an important forum for interaction between the IAEA and its Member States on a wide variety of international safeguards and non-proliferation issues. The previous event, Symposium on International Safeguards: Addressing Verification Challenges, was held from 16 to 20 October 2006.

The 2010 safeguards symposium, the eleventh in the series, will address safeguards during this time of change. The nuclear landscape is evolving, offering both challenges and opportunities to the IAEA and its Member States.

Global interest in nuclear power generation is increasing. This expansion, in terms of power and other peaceful applications, will bring additional nuclear activities, facilities and more nuclear material under safeguards around the globe. It also suggests growing international nuclear cooperation and trade in nuclear and related equipment, items and materials. All this is likely to significantly increase the IAEA’s safeguards activities.

With technological progress, the IAEA will need to be prepared to safeguard new, more advanced and larger scale nuclear fuel cycle facilities. At the same time, future nuclear technology and facilities may be designed to be more proliferation resistant and safeguards friendly. Moreover, scientific and technological progress can help improve information evaluation and detection capabilities, as well as provide further opportunities for both improved safeguards implementation and organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

The IAEA will also need to continue addressing some of today’s challenges. In recent years, a number of developments have strained the nuclear non-proliferation regime and have led to increasing expectations of the IAEA safeguards system. Globalization related proliferation risks — such as covert nuclear technology supply networks and the greater availability of proliferation sensitive information through the new media — are likely to grow. The importance placed on the IAEA’s credible assurances of the peaceful use of nuclear energy is likely only to increase. The IAEA may also be requested to take on further nuclear verification tasks in support of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, for example, in the area of fissile material declared as excess to defence needs.

In addition to external challenges, the IAEA may increasingly face its own organizational challenges. Its financial resources may not rise in proportion to its workload, requiring further efficiencies. The IAEA will also need to retain the knowledge of its departing staff and to compete for future workers from the shrinking pool of nuclear professionals alongside Member States and an expanding nuclear industry.

All these developments highlight the evolving nature of the IAEA’s operating environment and the importance of adapting to change and continually improving both the effectiveness and the efficiency of the safeguards system. They also underscore the importance of preparing more proactively for the future. The 2010 safeguards symposium provides an opportunity for the IAEA and its Member States, the nuclear industry, and members of the broader nuclear non-proliferation community to jointly explore possible solutions to the various challenges of the future, in support of the IAEA’s nuclear verification mission.

Programme

The 2010 safeguards symposium will consist of approximately 25 sessions over five days and will be held in the new conference building of the Vienna International Centre. It will begin with opening plenary sessions on the first day, continue with parallel topical sessions on the second through fourth days and conclude with a plenary session on the fifth day.

The opening sessions will include welcoming addresses, a keynote panel discussion and a technical plenary session.

The topical sessions will address forward looking safeguards topics (see Section 2) through oral presentations, poster presentations, panel discussions and forum discussions.

The concluding sessions will include presentations and closing addresses.

Topics of interest

Topics to be addressed during the 2010 symposium include the following:

• Supporting the global nuclear non-proliferation regime:

-Building support for strengthening international safeguards;
-Enhancing confidence in compliance with safeguards obligations;
-Legal authority as a means to enhance effectiveness and efficiency;
-Verification roles in support of arms control and disarmament.

• Building collaboration and partnerships with other international forums:

-Other verification and non-proliferation regimes;
-Synergies between safety, security and safeguards regimes.

• Improving cooperation between IAEA and States for safeguards implementation:

-Strengthening State systems for meeting safeguards obligations;
-Enhancing safeguards effectiveness and efficiency through greater cooperation;
-Lessons learned: recommendations for enhancing integrated safeguards implementation.

• Addressing safeguards challenges in an increasingly interconnected world:

-Non-State actors and covert trade networks;
-Globalization of nuclear information and technology.

• Preparing for the global nuclear expansion and increasing safeguards workload:

-Furthering implementation of the State-level concept and integrated safeguards;
-Information-driven safeguards;
-Remote data-driven safeguards inspections;
-Safeguards in States without comprehensive safeguards agreements.

• Safeguarding advanced nuclear facilities and innovative fuel cycles:

-Proliferation resistance;
-Safeguards by design;
-Safeguards approaches for advanced facilities.

• Advanced technologies and methodologies:

-For verifying nuclear material and activities;
-For detecting undeclared nuclear material and activities;
-For information collection, analysis and integration.

• Enhancing the development and use of safeguards resources:

-Developing safeguards professionals, maintaining expertise and managing knowledge;
-Optimizing technical support to the IAEA;
-Safeguards programme priorities and activities.