[en] Worldwide, about four billion X-ray exams, 35 million nuclear medicine exams and eight million radiation therapy treatment courses are undertaken each year. With millions exposed to ionizing radiation for medical purposes, and developing countries acquiring more machines to treat and diagnose cancer, the safety of patients is an ever-increasing concern. During the IAEA´s Scientific Forum, cancer experts and regulators put their heads together to explore the problems and possible solutions relating to the safe and appropriate use of new radiation medicine technology in developed and developing countries

[en] When the International Atomic Energy Agency was established on 29 July 1957, three nuclear power plants with a capacity of 105 MWe were in operation in two IAEA Member States. By 29 July 1982, 277 power reactors in 24 countries, with a total capacity of 157,500 MWe were providing around 9% of the world's electricity. However, the reality did not keep step with technical and economic development. Over the past twelve years there have been drastic revisions in nuclear power forecasts. Projections of installed capacity for the period up to the year 2000, as reported in the IAEA's Annual Reports, are shown in Figure 2. There has been a steady decline in the projections for the short-term (1975 and 1980) and since 1975 a dramatic decrease in the projections for the longer term (1990 and 2000). The projections for 1990 and 2000 published in the 1980 Annual Report were one-third to one-fifth of those published in the 1973-1974 Annual Reports. The reasons for this drastic reduction and the revised nuclear power forecasts are briefly discussed in the paper introduced

No abstract available

[en] The introduction of the latest generation of nuclear power reactors in new nuclear countries, as well as managing aging reactors in mature nuclear countries, is a crucial challenge facing the IAEA today

[en] Full text: 50 years ago, at 17:30 hours, 26 June 1954, in the town of Obninsk, near Moscow, the first nuclear power plant sent electricity to residences and businesses. Atomic energy had crossed the divide from military uses to peaceful ones, demonstrating the potential to fuel civilian electric power plants. The milestone is being marked this year at an IAEA international nuclear power conference in Obninsk. Past experience will be reviewed, but the focus is on meeting future challenges. Though it has come a long way in 50 years, nuclear energy today finds itself in a struggle of the fittest to carve a niche over the next fifty - in the marketplace and in the public eye. Cliches and sound bites tell part of the nuclear story. Visionary talk by nuclear proponents in 1954 was about future energy sources that would be 'too cheap to meter', a phrase critics pounced upon. Today in 2004 the 'too cheap to meter' phrase occasionally haunts the atom, but pops up more often than not in promotional ads for anything from wind power to web sites. Talk of nuclear energy now is of a 'renaissance' and 'second wind.' New nuclear plants are most attractive where energy demand is growing and resources are scarce, and where energy security, air pollution and greenhouse gases are priorities, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei points out. In cities, towns, and villages, reality is different, or too much the same, depending how you see and live it. Cheap or not, nuclear energy today supplies one-sixth of the world's electricity in some 30 countries. Still, it does not produce enough power. Neither does any other energy source. More than 1.5 billion people have no electricity to meter whatsoever - not from renewables, solar, nuclear, biomass, wind, coal, oil, gas, firewood, or hydrogen, the publicized promise of tomorrow. So what will it take? Maybe bigger blackouts or hotter days than the world has seen. Certainly needed are more attention, action, and money. In dollar terms, energy analysts say trillions of dollars must be invested in fuels that are clean, affordable, and sustainable. In Asia, where energy demand and populations are fast rising, nuclear is growing, as in China where plans are ambitious. Outside the region, the story is mixed, with some countries rejecting the option outright on safety and waste grounds. Whatever the choices, the world can ill afford to ignore bringing more power to people. As eminent Indian scientist Homi Bhaba noted a half century ago, 'No energy is as expensive as no energy.' Time will tell how long his message resonates. (author)

No abstract available

[en] Full text: Standards, legislation, regulations, policies and procedures may comprise the infrastructure of a radiation protection programme. But even the most carefully designed building remains a hollow shell until people take up residence and begin to marry form and function. Similarly, it takes people to put words into action. The availability of qualified personnel is vital to developing and sustaining a radiation protection infrastructure. For this reason, the IAEA makes it a top priority to develop the skills, knowledge and expertise of individuals across many disciplines: scientists, legislators and regulators, politicians and administrators, employees in facilities that use radioactive sources and materials, emergency response personnel, etc. Over the course of the Model Project, the IAEA applied various approaches to help strengthen personal capabilities - and thereby enable national capacities. Building on a long-standing programme developed in Argentina (and delivered in Spanish), the IAEA now offers post-graduate education courses (PGEC) on Radiation Protection and the Safety of Radiation Sources on a regular basis. This PGEC is available in Arabic (Syrian Arab Republic), English (South Africa and Greece), French (Morocco) and Russian (Belarus). Between 1999 and 2004, more than 370 individuals participated in post-graduate courses. In addition, some 7000 national specialists received radiation protection training through regional and interregional specialized training courses, fellowships, on-the-job training, and scientific visits. By adopting a 'train-the-trainer' approach, the IAEA helps to ensure that Member States become self-sufficient in this area as well. Many individuals who participate in training opportunities provided by the technical cooperation programme subsequently pass their new knowledge and expertise on to co-workers and other peers at the national level. One of the most practical ways the IAEA supports training and education is through the development of manuals, reference materials, and standard packages, which Member States can adapt to suit their particular circumstances and translate into local languages. Recently, various tools have been developed to support distance learning in areas related to radiation protection

[en] Meeting a day before the summit, Bush and Putin announced a new Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism; a plan for multiple, multilateral guaranteed suppliers of nuclear fuel to States that forgo building their own enrichment plants; and a Civil Nuclear Agreement that will lift restrictions on cooperation between the two countries in developing peaceful nuclear power. Each of these initiatives provides a framework for dozens of specific actions that can measurably reduce the risk of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon. The significance of the Global Initiative against Nuclear Terrorism lies not only in its substance but in Russia's visible joint ownership of the Initiative. After years in which Washington lectured Moscow about this threat, Putin's joint leadership in securing nuclear material worldwide should give added impetus to this undertaking inside Russia as well. Globally, this initiative calls for work plans in five arenas: prevention, detection, disruption, mitigation of consequences after an attack, and strengthening domestic laws and export controls against future A.Q. Khans. The guaranteed nuclear fuel supply tightens the noose around Iran as it seeks to exploit a loophole in the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. By guaranteeing States that six separate international suppliers will provide backup guarantees against interruption of supply for any reason other that breech of commitments under the NPT, this proposal eliminates Iran's excuse for Natanz-the enrichment plant it is rushing to finish today. This system for supply will be subject to the supervision by the IAEA, which will also have nuclear fuel reserves that allow it to be a supplier of last resort. The Civil Nuclear Agreement will allow joint research on next-generation, proliferation-proof reactors, including technologies where Russian science is the best in the world. It will permit sale to Russia of US technologies that can improve the safety and efficiency of Russian nuclear power plants. In time, it will allow Russia to import for safe storage US-origin nuclear waste from power plants in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

[en] The introduction of the latest generation of nuclear power reactors in new nuclear countries, as well as managing aging reactors in mature nuclear countries, is a crucial challenge facing the IAEA today

[en] Experts Tackle Patient Radiation Safety During IAEA's Scientific Forum