Brussels, 26/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - At their fourth annual meeting at senior official level in Vienna on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 January, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the EU took measures to reinforce their cooperation in a broad range of nuclear activities, from nuclear safety to sustainable development, via the joint action plan to limit the Iranian nuclear programme and the IAEA's low-enriched uranium bank in Kazakhstan.
This week, the two organisations agreed to reinforce their cooperation on nuclear safety, waste management, declassification and preparation for emergency situations, and discussed mechanisms to reinforce regional cooperation, including the environmental cleansing of former uranium sites in central Asia, according to a joint press release.
The EU reiterated its support for the IAEA's activities on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement concluded in Vienna on 14 July 2015 by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (China, United States, France, United Kingdom and Russia) plus Germany, the EU and Iran, to lift the sanctions imposed upon Teheran in exchange for the restriction of the Iranian nuclear programme in the long term. As coordinator of the Joint Commission set up by the JCPOA, the High Representative of the EU (Federica Mogherini: Ed) will remain in close contact with the IAEA regarding the implementation of the agreement, she said. The EU also expressed its intention to cooperate with Iran bilaterally, particularly in the field of nuclear safety.
The EU and the IAEA also looked at the progress of their cooperation in other areas, including global assistance projects such as, most recently, nuclear applications in health and agriculture, which are undergoing pilot trials in Africa and Asia.
The parties also discussed nuclear security, more specifically the EU's support for the entry into force of the amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, but also the IAEA's low-enriched uranium bank in Kazakhstan, which is also supported by the EU.
Lastly, the senior officials of the EU and the IAEA examined the progress made on the application of the nuclear safeguards in the EU member states.
The next Senior Officials Meeting will be held in Brussels in early 2017. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)