ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

1.       INTRODUCTION

In 1991, the IAEA organized an International Conference on the Safety of Nuclear Power: Strategy for the Future. Recommendations from that conference prompted actions in subsequent years that advanced the safety of nuclear installations worldwide, and included the establishment of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which entered into force in October 1996.

In 1998, the IAEA sponsored an International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear, Radiation and Radioactive Waste Safety. In response to the concerns identified and the recommendations provided by the conference, actions were taken to improve the monitoring of safety by: developing performance indicators; furthering the use of probabilistic safety insights to complement and help optimize the prescriptive nature of regulations in the field of radiation protection and addressing actions needed to ensure the future availability of competent professionals.

In 2001, the IAEA sponsored an International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Safety. The findings were again essential in providing the IAEA and the nuclear industry with insights as to where future activities should be focused. Recommendations addressed: the need to develop international guidance on the use of probabilistic safety insights; the potential negative impacts on safety from natural and man-made external factors; the need for emergency preparedness; guidance for fuel cycle facilities; the safety challenges associated with poor utilization programmes at research reactors; and the need to develop simple indicators of safe operating performance.

In 2004, the IAEA organized in Beijing, China, a conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Installation Safety with focus on Continuous Improvement of Nuclear Safety in a Changing World. The conference provided valuable input for the development of IAEA nuclear safety programmes. The participants stressed the need for harmonization of regulatory approaches, and inclusion of operational experience in all safety programmes and maintenance of a transparent environment, which is essential for owners-operators, regulators and the public. It was agreed that information technology methods need to be pursued to leverage resources to the maximum degree possible. It was noted that for safety assessments the right balance of deterministic and probabilistic methods during design, operation and regulatory activities is needed.

Safe, secure, peaceful and efficient use of nuclear energy requires sustainable tools, including infrastructure that provides legal, regulatory, technological, human and industrial support for the nuclear programme. A country planning a nuclear programme or currently operating nuclear facilities must develop, maintain or improve safety through the mechanisms of international connectivity, sustainable knowledge transfer and synergy among important programmes to safely and reliably operate and maintain the nuclear power programme. These efforts are necessary to protect the citizens within the country, within neighboring countries, the region and the world

2.       OBJECTIVE

The objective of the conference is to foster the exchange of information on topical issues in nuclear safety, especially on issues that ensure safety for sustainable nuclear development. The conference will identify foundations for international consensus on the basic approaches for dealing with these issues, and will propose recommendations concerning:

3.       TOPICS

The main part of the conference will be devoted to the following key topical issues which have been identified as subjects for the contributed papers.

Topical Session 1: Safety Infrastructure for Nuclear Programmes

Part 1:  Challenges to Safety Infrastructure from Expanding Nuclear Power

Part 2:  New Entrants to the World Nuclear Community:
How do we get there?

Topical Session 2: Safety Management and Operational Experience Feedback:
How to get better ?

Part 1:  Safety Management and Technical Aspect

Part 2:  Operational Experience Feedback

4.       PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

Day 1 :
         
The opening session will address the conference’s global objectives including:

The opening session will be followed by a plenary session in which invited speakers will address:

the global harmonization of nuclear safety.
A panel discussion will address:

Days 2 and 3:

Day 4:            

The conference will feature a closing plenary session at which the overall results and conclusions of all topical sessions and the panel discussion will be summarized by the chairpersons. The President of the conference will highlight the recommendations for the future development of international cooperation, including how to transfer the results of the topical discussions to the IAEA’s programmes and medium term strategy.

Day 5 :  Site Visit (Optional)

5.       AUDIENCE

The conference is directed at a broad range of experts in the area of nuclear safety, including professionals from the different disciplines involved in the safety of nuclear power plants, installations in other parts of the fuel cycle and research reactors. It is aimed at both licensees and governmental officials, including persons from regulatory bodies, the industry and academia as well as senior policy makers.

6.       CONTRIBUTED PAPERS

The contributed papers should not exceed four pages in length and must be submitted in English. Each contributed paper must be preceded by an abstract not exceeding 300 words. Authors should state to which of the above technical topic their contribution relates. Authors must use the IAEA’s Proceedings Paper Template in Word 2000 (user instructions are available on the conference web page (Section 15)). Guidelines for the preparation of a contributed paper are given in the attached IAEA Guidelines for Authors on the Preparation of Manuscripts for Proceedings.
The contributed papers should be submitted to the following email address:

M.Modro@iaea.org

or sent on diskette/CD-ROM to the Scientific Secretariat (see Section 14). The diskette label should identify the paper, the proposed session topic and the software application used (the use of Microsoft Word is encouraged). To permit selection and review, the electronic version of the contributed paper must be received by the Scientific Secretariat not later than 17 June 2008.
In addition to the electronic submission, a copy of the contributed paper(s) must also be submitted through one of the competent official authorities (see Section 9). The paper should be sent with a completed Form for Submission of a Paper (Form B) and the Participation Form (Form A) to reach the IAEA not later than 17 June 2008.
Only papers that have been received by the above deadline(s) and through the appropriate official channels will be considered for inclusion in the Book of Contributed Papers. Final acceptance will occur after a peer review process. Furthermore, the Secretariat reserves the right to exclude papers that do not comply with its quality standards and do not apply to one of the topics in Section 3, above.
Papers that are not sent through the official channels and papers arriving after the deadline will not be considered.
Authors will be informed in August 2008, whether their papers have been accepted for inclusion in the Book of Contributed Papers and if they have been accepted for presentation to the conference.

7.       PARTICIPATION

All persons wishing to participate in the conference are requested to register online in advance. In addition, they must send a completed Participation Form (Form A) and, if relevant, the Paper Submission Form (Form B) and the Grant Application Form (Form C) as soon as possible to the competent official authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or national atomic energy authority) for subsequent transmission to the IAEA. A participant will be accepted only if the Participation Form is transmitted through the government of a Member State of the IAEA or by an organization invited to participate.

Participants whose official designations have been received by the IAEA will receive further information on the conference at least three months before the meeting. This information will also be available on the conference web page:
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/Announcements.asp?ConfID=158.

 8.         EXPENDITURES/GRANTS

No registration fee is charged to participants.

As a general rule, the IAEA does not pay the cost of attendance, i.e. travel and living expenses, of participants. However, limited funds are available to help meet the cost of the attendance of selected specialists, mainly from developing countries with low economic resources. Generally, not more than one grant will be awarded to any one country.

If governments wish to apply for a grant on behalf of one of their specialists, they should address specific requests to the IAEA to this effect. Governments should ensure that applications for grants:

(a)   are submitted by 17 June 2008;
(b)   are accompanied by a duly completed and signed Grant Application Form (see attached Form C).

Applications that do not comply with the conditions stated under (a) and (b) cannot be considered.

The grants awarded will be in the form of lump sums and usually cover only part of the cost of attendance.

9.         CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

The Participation Form (Form A), the Paper Submission Form (Form B) and, if applicable, the Grant Application Form (Form C) must be sent through one of the competent official authorities (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or national atomic energy authority) for subsequent transmission to the IAEA. Subsequent communications concerning technical matters should be sent to the Scientific Secretary and communications on administrative/logistical matters to the Conference Secretariat (see Section 14).

10.       DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A preliminary programme of the conference will be sent to all officially designated participants well in advance of the meeting and will also be available on the IAEA conference web site (see Section 15).

The Programme and the Book of Contributed Papers will be available free of charge upon registration at the conference.

The Proceedings of the conference to be published by the IAEA, will contain welcoming addresses, overview presentations, rapporteur reports, invited keynote papers, session summaries, the conclusions presented by the President of the conference on the last day and the records of the discussions. The contributed papers will be included as a CD ROM. The Proceedings can be ordered, at a special discounted price, during the conference.

11.     WORKING LANGUAGE

The working language of the meeting will be English. All communications must, therefore, be sent to the IAEA in English.

12.       ACCOMMODATION

Detailed information on accommodation and other administrative details will be sent to all officially designated participants approximately three months before the meeting. It will also be available on the IAEA conference web site.

13.       VISAS

Designated participants who require a visa to enter India should submit the necessary application(s) to the nearest diplomatic or consular representative of India as soon as possible. Please keep an eye on the conference web site for further advice/instructions on this.

14.     CONTACT INFORMATION

(a) Scientific issues – Scientific Secretariat (IAEA)

 (b) Administrative Issues – Conference Organizer (IAEA)

Ms Karen Morrison                                                  
Conference Services Section                                     
International Atomic Energy Agency               
Telephone No.:    (+43) 1-2600-21317              
Fax No.:              (+43) 1-2600-29325                       
Email: K.Morrison@iaea.org                             
International Atomic Energy Agency
IAEA-CN-158
PO Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5
1400 Vienna, Austria
Telephone: (+43) 1-2600-0
Fax: (43) 1-2600-7
Email: official.mail@iaea.org

 15.       CONFERENCE WEB PAGE  
Please visit the IAEA conference web site regularly for new information regarding the conference under: http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/Announcements.asp?ConfID=158.