The Symposium
The IAEA holds a Symposium on International Safeguards every four years. The purpose of this event is to bring together global stakeholders in support of IAEA safeguards. It is an opportunity for Member State safeguards regulatory authorities, the research and development (R&D) community, industry and civil society to identify challenges and opportunities for IAEA safeguards, showcase research, share ideas, and build partnerships.
Year 2022 is a special one for the global safeguards community, with important anniversaries marking 60 years of IAEA inspections, 50 years of comprehensive safeguards agreements (CSAs), as well as 25 years of additional protocols (AP). The past decades have witnessed developments with significant impacts on the nuclear non-proliferation regime and on IAEA safeguards. Adaptation has been key to success. These anniversaries offer a unique moment of reflection, on what has been achieved and what remains to be done. Year 2022 is also an opportune time for envisioning the decades ahead and the future we aspire to create.
The previous Symposium, held under the theme ‘Building Future Safeguards Capabilities’ in 2018 offered a set of seven ideas for potential action for the safeguards community at large. The 2022 Symposium will examine progress made towards them.
Objectives
The objectives of the 2022 Symposium are to:
- Reflect — celebrate the historic anniversaries and achievements thus far, building common understanding of experience gained and key milestones that have shaped safeguards, and reflecting on experience gained and lessons learned over the course of decades of safeguards implementation and on where we are today;
- Anticipate — anticipating nuclear energy’s role in addressing global challenges, envisage how the IAEA’s operating environment will likely evolve over the coming decades, and identify what this means for safeguards in the form of both new challenges and opportunities; and
- Inspire — based on lessons from the past and insights about the future, identify actions to take and stakeholders and partnerships to support them, towards ensuring a safeguards system that is well prepared for continued success in the decades ahead.
List of Topics
The IAEA welcomes high quality contributions that fall under the umbrella of the following five high level themes:
- Evolution of safeguards to date
- Addressing contemporary challenges
- Anticipating and preparing for a changing landscape
- Leveraging innovations for safeguards applications
- Engaging people and expanding partnerships
Key Deadlines and Dates
- 31 March 2022: Deadline Submission of abstracts through IAEA-INDICO together with the Form for Submission of a Paper (Form B) and the Participation Form (Form A) through the competent national authority using the InTouch+ Platform
- 27 April 2022: Deadline for submission of the Grant Application Form (Form C), together with Form A, through the competent national authority using the InTouch+ Platform
- 27 May 2022: Notification of acceptance of abstracts
- 31 August 2022: Submission of accepted full papers
- No deadline: Registration only (no paper submission, no grant request) using Form A through the InTouch+ Platform
Exhibitions
A limited amount of space will be available for commercial vendors’ displays/exhibits during the Symposium. Interested parties should contact the Scientific Secretariat by email by 3 May 2022.