69th IAEA General Conference

Cultural heritage objects can be found across the world, far from their place of origin. Their journey reflects the migration of people, trade routes, cultural exchange or looting and is an important part of the object’s biography. When historical sources are not present or incomplete, or cultural knowledge lost, the material characterization of the object has an advantage. This session will present several success stories like re-creating ancient archaeological textiles and understanding ancient pigment exchange that demonstrate where nuclear techniques have become indispensable tools for heritage science. This event is organized within the Atoms for Heritage initiative. This event is organized by the Netherlands.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 12.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. in Conference Room M7, M Building, ground floor.

At this event, the presentation will highlight how the analysis of selected IAEA documents demonstrated that a significant part of these documents are technology neutral. The event will draw attention to the HARMONISE project which provided suggested amendments to documents that were studied.

Areas such as risk insight usage and performance-based requirement application for licensing advanced nuclear installations were undertaken and efforts were made to identify how innovations impact the applicability of current safety frameworks to the LFR ALFRED – the Advanced Lead fuel reactor European Demonstrator – used to test safety measures for advanced technologies such as small modular reactors. This event is organized by Lithuania.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. in Conference Room M6, M Building, ground floor.

Tritium monitoring in water resources near critical infrastructure, can verify compliance with safety regulations and assess potential radiological impacts on the public. Crucially, these measurements also provide valuable information about the integrity of water sources, including their age, primary source, the effectiveness of natural barriers protecting groundwater, and their susceptibility to recent surface contamination. The proposed side event is set to delve into these applications, presenting relevant case studies. It will also provide an up-to-date overview of tritium monitoring efforts specifically in the waters surrounding Fukushima, offering valuable context and lessons learned from that region. This event is organized by Italy.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 12.30 p.m. to 1.30 p.m. in Conference Room M5, M Building, ground floor.

The IAEA Archives are a pillar of the IAEA’s institutional memory, spanning over 70 years and comprising over 10 000 shelf metres of hard-copy records and 10 terabytes of data. These walking tours are an opportunity to look behind the scenes to:

• Experience the size and composition of the IAEA Archives;
• Interact with some of the treasures in our holdings and be inspired by the Agency’s history;
• View the Reading Room and an archival repository, and learn about challenges in preservation and access management; and
• Hear how the Department of Management oversees the IAEA Archives.

Tours run from 1.00 to 2.00 p.m. daily. For those wishing to attend the tour, registration can be completed online here (once available) or in person at the exhibition on the IAEA online archives catalogue, located on the ground floor of the M building.

The Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) is the global focal point for international preparedness for and response to nuclear or radiological emergencies. The tour will provide participants with an overview of the IEC’s response roles and emergency preparedness and response tools.

Tours will be offered on Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 September from 1.00 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. The planned duration of each tour is one hour.

Advance registration is encouraged by sending an email, stating first and family name, affiliation, delegation, email and telephone number. The assembly point is the Information Desk at the entrance to the M building from where participants will be picked up on the respective day at 12.50 p.m.

Panelists will explore how SESAME’s synchrotron facility serves as a catalyst for human capacity building and socioeconomic development across the Middle East. By combining strategic vision, operational excellence, and regional cooperation, the session will highlight concrete pathways to translate photon science into benefits for education, healthcare, agriculture, industry, and preservation of cultural heritage. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how shared advanced scientific infrastructure can drive sustainable growth, innovation and strengthen regional ties.

Attendees will be invited to engage in a dynamic Q&A, forging ideas for scalable models of science diplomacy and capacity building that can be adopted across the Middle East and other regions of the world.). This event is organized by Jordan.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 1.30 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. in Conference Room CR3, C Building, seventh floor.

During this tour, visitors can learn about the safeguards equipment used by IAEA safeguards inspectors, from the preparation of equipment to be taken into the field, to the shipment of the equipment and its return to IAEA Headquarters.

Prior registration for all tours is required in advance. To register for the Safeguards Equipment Insight, contact this?email, stating first and family name, affiliation, delegation, and telephone number.

The assembly point is the Information Desk at the entrance to the M building from where participants will be picked up on Wednesday, 17 September at 1.30 p.m.

This side event will showcase the pioneering process to evaluate the impact of the ARCAL Programme for the period 2016–2021. Using a customized SEPO methodology (Successes, Failures, Potentials, and Obstacles), the evaluation generated actionable evidence across four thematic areas: Energy, Human Health, Environment, and Food & Agriculture. The event will share key findings, lessons learned and regional success stories, and aims to promote the institutionalization of impact evaluation as a core element of effective and sustainable technical cooperation. This event is co-organized by Brazil.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room CR1, C Building, second floor.

This event will highlight the progress achieved since the launch of NUTEC Plastics in May 2021, and will provide comprehensive updates on both the upcycling and marine monitoring components of the initiative. The event will also examine future steps, including the advancement of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) in pilot countries and the establishment of a Marine Global Monitoring Network by 2026. The event will foster collaboration and the sharing of insights, and will reinforce global commitment to addressing plastic pollution through innovative and science-based solutions.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room CR4, C Building, seventh floor.

Finland has an ambitious climate and energy policy with the objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2035. Electricity production in Finland is already almost CO2-free. This has been achieved with the combination of renewable energy sources and nuclear energy. In the coming years, small modular reactors (SMRs) can significantly contribute to decarbonizing also the Finnish heating sector. In addition to producing district heat, SMRs can address the huge global needs in providing cooling in a sustainable manner. In developing and deploying SMRs, nuclear safety is the priority, which always comes first. This event is organized by Finland.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 2.00 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room M6, M Building, ground floor.

This Side Event will discuss new strategies and actions for fostering innovation through the implementation of international best practices in innovation management, as well as the development of internal organizational culture, processes, and structures aimed at creating value for the industry, stakeholders, and society. It will focus on strengthening the innovation culture and driving business development. The presentation will highlight advanced licensing and commercialization processes, including spin-offs; the training of technology transfer leaders; fostering market-oriented research; and building strong international partnerships, particularly with CEA in France and TNO in the Netherlands. This event is co-organized by Brazil.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 2.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. in Conference Room M7, M Building, ground floor.

This event involves a laboratory tour (to be offered on three consecutive days). The tour will showcase the Radiation Safety Technical Services Laboratory, which provides annual monitoring services for external and internal radiation exposure for 3000 occupationally exposed workers. These services are critical to IAEA activities globally. Support services also include training, consultation and the loan of survey equipment.

Tours will be offered on Tuesday, 16, Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 September 2025. from 2.30 p.m. to 3.45 p.m.

Advance registration is required by sending an email, stating first and family name, affiliation, delegation, email and telephone number. The assembly point is the Information Desk at the entrance to M building, from where participants will be picked up on the respective day at 2.20 p.m.

The event will highlight Hungary’s long-standing involvement in capacity building activities in nuclear safety, emergency preparedness and response, nuclear security and radiation protection.

The presentation will highlight Hungary's commitment to supporting IAEA Member States by sharing expertise and best practices in nuclear safety and radiation protection. The objective of this event is to also address efforts to foster future cooperation among stakeholders. This event is organized by Hungary.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 3.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. in Conference Room M5, M Building, ground floor.

Advanced nuclear is recognized worldwide as an asset for targeting on time all environmental, safety and economical attributes of sustainability for the aimed energy transition. According to the deployment model of SMRs and AMRs – among the technologies of the most interest for Italy –, creating and spreading wide and multinational collaborations is a mandatory approach. This Side Event will provide with an overview on the forming collaborations and partnerships pivoting around Italy, where different technologies are exploited synergically within the same framework, to shed light on a potential methodological, cooperative model with prospectively European outreach. This event is organized by Italy.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 3.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. in Conference Room CR3, C Building, seventh floor.

This event organised by FORO, will provide an opportunity for discussions on the importance for robust regulatory infrastructures and cooperation on nuclear safety and security, efforts undertaken in capacity building as well as the education and training for future professionals.

FORO will share key aspects of the FORO′s “Declaration of Asunción” to highlight the importance of robust regulatory agencies to ensure high standards of safety as well as key outcomes of FORO’s technical programme with emphasis on education, competences and skills of the regulators staff. This event is organized by FORO.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. in Conference Room CR1, C Building, second floor.

SMR will play an important role in the near future in the development of nuclear energy as part of the global ambition to achieve net zero carbon emissions. But more traditional large-scale NPP often look more attractive to End-Users. A wide range of application of SMRs, their offshore and onshore deployment, shorter construction time and lower capital costs are compensated by significantly higher capacity and lower cost per MW of Large-Scale NPP. Discussion of the latest trends in the production and deployment of SMRs and large-scale NPP is an important step in the development of nuclear industry. This event is organized by the Russian Federation.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 4.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. in Conference Room M6, M Building, ground floor.

2025 has been designated the International Year of Glacier Preservation. This event will showcase the diverse work of the IAEA in assisting Member States understand the impacts of glacier retreat on freshwater sustainability. It will draw on case studies from Central Asia, Europe and South America.

This event will be held on Wednesday, 17 September 2025, from 4.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. in Conference Room CR4, C Building, seventh floor.

The IAEA’s new Transportable Electron Beam (e-beam) Accelerator System?is a versatile facility that allows the treatment of liquids, solids and gases. It will be a cornerstone of the Agency’s assistance to Member States in building capacity and in bridging gaps to address the need for cost-effective and accessible e-beam technology (“ebeams4Development”). The system will enable experts to conduct activities that support NUTECPlastics (polymer modification), Atoms4Food (phyto- and sanitary application), ZODIAC (inactivating microorganisms for vaccine production), Atoms4Climate (environmental applications such as wastewater, sludge, odour and greenhouse gases treatments), Atoms4Heritage (preserving heritage artefacts) and more.

The 40-feet ISO container in Agency blue, housing the main element of the system, will be on display at A-3 level. Experts will brief delegates about its capabilities, operation, safety aspects and the possibilities for loaning the system to Member States for dedicated experiments and demonstration. The system will not be operational while on display at the VIC (i.e. no radiation protection measures are needed).

Daily, between 08:00-09:00 and 13:00-15:00, no registration required.

This side event, aimed in particular at newcomer countries in Africa, will share experiences and lessons learned regarding the deployment of SMRs, and will examine opportunities to increase the number of women in the nuclear industry. The event will highlight the involvement of women in discussions and decisions on the development and deployment of SMRs and similar nuclear projects. Participants will share their nuclear programme journey, lessons learned (particularly in capacity building) and the role women have played in achieving national strategic goals through various nuclear projects. Speakers will include WiN Africa and WiN Global, with South Africa, Egypt and Ghana sharing lessons on capacity building and profiling major development milestones and achievements of women in strategic projects. This event is organized by South Africa.

This event will be held on Thursday, 18 September 2025, from 09.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. at ESPACE M0E, M Building, ground floor.

Heads of regulatory bodies and other senior regulatory officials in the fields of nuclear, radiation, transport and radioactive waste safety and nuclear security will discuss regulatory challenges and share good practices. The meeting also focuses on IAEA Secretariat initiatives to support regulatory bodies.

This event will be held on Thursday, 18 September 2025, from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. in Board Room D, C Building, fourth floor.