Opening Address [6. International Symposium on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM VI), Marrakesh (Morocco), 22-26 March 2010]

Full text: On behalf of the president of the University, who apologizes for not being here today, I am delighted to welcome you to Marrakesh where you have decided to hold this 6th International Symposium on Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material, NORM VI. On behalf of Cadi Ayyad University, I would like to thank the symposium organizers, Hassan II University of Mohammadia, CNESTEN, CERPHOS, OCP and the IAEA and all the sponsors who have made it possible for this important scientific event to take place in Marrakesh, the home of our institution. The Faculty of Sciences, Semlalia, has a great interest in training and scientific research in the radioactive and nuclear material domain. Our academic programme includes various degrees with several courses in this discipline and our laboratories are also conducting advanced research in this area. This international meeting allows, no doubt, the researchers, industry experts and professionals to expose their ideas and scientific results concerning new methods and technologies for the extraction and processing industry involved with naturally occurring radioactive material. The items in the symposium programme are also important to universities, research centres, industrial enterprises and governmental and non-governmental institutions. This will certainly be an opportunity to reflect on a framework of partnership and cooperation in order to work together for developing new projects and to ensure their implementation. On behalf of the Faculty of Sciences, Semlalia, I wish you all success. I also hope that this symposium will allow further success to be achieved in future symposia, as well as the perpetuity of scientific and technologic exchange and the reinforcement of ties between the participants and all the countries represented here. To conclude I would like to thank again the symposium organizers, especially M. Ali Misdaq and all the members of his research team. I congratulate them and wish them great success. I wish you a good stay in Marrakesh. Thank you very much. (author)