[en] The IAEA recognizes the importance of nuclear knowledge transfer and the need to attract students to nuclear fields if there is hope of reversing the projected shortfall of specialized expertise. Access to reliable information, especially to students in the developing world, is key to keeping pace. INIS provides students and researchers with access to reliable resources that demonstrate the importance and the advantages of nuclear science and technology. The INIS Database is available on the Internet and free of charge to students at universities and academic institutes in Member States. To date, the response has been positive and 307 universities in 59 Member States have database access. The International Nuclear Information System (INIS) is the world's leading information system on the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology and is operated by the IAEA in collaboration with its Member States and co-operating international organizations. Central areas are nuclear reactors, reactor safety, nuclear fusion, applications of radiation and radioisotopes in medicine, agriculture, industry and pest control as well as related fields such as nuclear chemistry, nuclear physics and materials science. Legal and social aspects associated with nuclear energy are also covered. And, from 1992, the economic and environmental aspects of all non-nuclear energy sources are also included. INIS also maintains an extensive collection of documents of grey literature not available elsewhere

[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] 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

[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

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)

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

[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