1. INTRODUCTION

Background

In 2005, the IAEA held the International Symposium on Uranium Production and Raw Materials for the Nuclear Fuel Cycle — Supply and Demand, Economics, the Environment and Energy Security, in Vienna, to discuss all aspects of uranium raw materials for the uranium fuel cycle for the long term sustainability of a nuclear power programme.

In the intervening period, there has been ‘rising expectation’ for nuclear power worldwide, leading to an increase in uranium demand and in turn the price of uranium. The uranium industry has been revived and there has been a dramatic increase in uranium exploration and mining activities in several countries. The gap between the uranium demand and fresh supply from the mines is being filled at present by secondary supply. However, with decreasing availability of the secondary supply, the uranium resource base and production have to be increased. In addition, adequate services and expertise and modern technologies will be needed to ensure a sustainable supply of uranium raw materials to fuel both operating and future nuclear power reactors. Further, sound environmental management, training and education will be required to minimize the impact of uranium mining and production and to gain public acceptance of nuclear energy.

Objectives

The long term sustainability of nuclear power will depend on, among several factors, an adequate supply of uranium resources that can be delivered to the marketplace at competitive prices. New exploration technology and a better understanding of the genesis of the uranium ores will be required to discover increasingly hard to find uranium deposits. The mining and milling technology should be environmentally benign, and site decommissioning plans should meet the requirements of increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

The purpose of the symposium is to analyse uranium supply–demand scenarios and to present and discuss new developments in uranium exploration, mining and processing, and environmental requirements for uranium operations and site decommissioning. The presentations and discussions at URAM 2009 will:

• Lead to a better understanding of the adequacy of uranium sources (both primary and secondary) to meet future demand;
• Provide information on new exploration concepts, knowledge and technologies that will potentially lead to the discovery and development of new uranium resources;
• Describe new production technology that has the potential to more efficiently and economically exploit new uranium resources;
• Document the environmental compatibility of uranium production and the overall effectiveness of the final remediation and decommissioning of production facilities.

Target audience

URAM 2009 is intended to bring together scientists, exploration and mining geologists, engineers, operators, regulators and fuel cycle specialists to exchange information and discuss updated research and current issues in uranium geology and deposits, exploration, mining and processing, production economics and environmental and legal issues.

2. LIST OF TOPICS

Contributed papers will be accepted on the following topics:

• Uranium markets and economics (including supply and demand);
• Social licensing in the uranium production cycle;
• Uranium exploration (including uranium geology and deposits);
• Uranium mining and processing;
• Environmental and regulatory issues;
• Human resources development;
• Special session on IAEA technical cooperation in the uranium production cycle.

On the last day of the symposium a panel discussion comprising experts will be held.

3. PARTICIPATION

All persons wishing to participate in the symposium are requested to register in advance online via the conference web site (see Section 14).

In addition, they must send a completed Participation Form (see attached Form A) as soon as possible to the competent official authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or national atomic energy authority) for subsequent transmission to the IAEA. See Section 13 for contact information for the competent official authority in the respective countries. A participant will be accepted only if the Participation Form is transmitted through the government authority of a Member State of the IAEA or by an organization invited to participate.

Participants whose designations have been received by the IAEA will be notified directly approximately three months before the meeting.

4. EXPENDITURES

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 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) Be submitted by 28 November 2008; (Deadline passed)
(b) Be accompanied by a duly completed and signed Grant Application Form (see attached Form C).

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

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

5. PAPERS/POSTERS

Concise papers on issues falling within the topics outlined in Section 2 above may be submitted as contributions to the symposium. All papers and posters — apart from invited review papers — must present original work; they should not have been published elsewhere.

Deadline for submission

(a) A completed Form for Submission of a Paper/Poster (see attached Form B), together with the Participation Form (Form A) and two copies of an abstract of maximum one A4 format page of single spaced typing or the equivalent (excluding tables or diagrams and references), written in English, must be sent to the competent official authority for transmission to the IAEA by 28 November 2008. (Deadline extended until 16 February 2009) Simultaneously, copies should be sent electronically to the Symposium Scientific Secretaries (see Section 12). The symposium email address is for submission of abstracts is: URAM2009@iaea.org.
Authors are urged to make use of the synopsis template in Word 2000 on the symposium web page. The specifications and instructions for preparing the abstract are given in the attached Instructions for Abstracts. Attached to this announcement is a sample abstract.
The abstract should give enough information on the contents of the proposed paper to enable the selection committee to evaluate it. Introductory and general matters should not be included. The abstract — if accepted — will be reproduced in unedited form in the Book of Abstracts. The general style and presentation should be as in the attached sample.
(b) If changes or corrections to an abstract become necessary, a revised version may be sent to the IAEA before 27 February 2009 for inclusion in the Book of Abstracts.

Authors are urged to strictly observe the above deadlines and instructions, as otherwise consideration of the abstract by the selection committee cannot be guaranteed.

Paper/poster acceptance

In order to provide ample time for discussion, the number of papers that can be accepted for oral presentation is limited. If the number of relevant and high quality papers submitted for selection exceeds the acceptable number, poster sessions may be arranged.

Authors will be informed whether their papers/posters have been accepted for presentation on the basis of their abstract. At the same time authors will be informed whether their papers/posters have been accepted for presentation at a regular session or as a poster. The IAEA, however, reserves the right to refuse the presentation or publication of any paper/poster that does not meet the expectations based on the information given in the abstract.

Further details concerning written and oral presentations at the meeting will be sent to all authors in due course.

6. EXHIBITS

A limited amount of space will be available for commercial vendors’ displays/exhibits during the symposium. Interested parties should contact the Scientific Secretaries.

7. PROCEEDINGS

The proceedings of the meeting will be published by the IAEA as soon as possible after the meeting.

8. DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS

A preliminary programme of the symposium will be sent to the participants before the meeting. The final programme and the book of abstracts will be distributed at registration.

9. WORKING LANGUAGE

The working language of the meeting will be English. All communications, synopses, abstracts and papers must be sent to the Agency in English.

10. ACCOMMODATION

Detailed information on accommodation and other administrative details will be sent to all designated participants well in advance of the meeting. This information will also be available on the symposium web site (see below).

11. VISA

Designated participants who require a visa to enter Austria should submit the necessary application to the nearest diplomatic or consular representative of Austria as soon as possible. Please note that Austria is a Schengen State and therefore persons who require a visa will have to apply for a Schengen visa at least 21 days before entry into Austria. In States where Austria has no diplomatic mission, visas can be obtained from the consular authority of a Schengen Partner State representing Austria in the country in question. At present the Schengen States are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

12. IAEA SECRETARIAT

Scientific Secretaries:

Mr. Chaitanyamoy Ganguly
Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology
Telephone: (+43 1) 2600 22766
Telefax: (+43 1) 2600 7
Email: C.Ganguly@iaea.org

Mr. Jan Slezak
Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology
Telephone: (+43 1) 2600 22757
Telefax: (+43 1) 2600 7
Email: J.Slezak@iaea.org

Abstracts should be submitted to email address: URAM2009@iaea.org

Symposium coordinator:

Ms. Enikõ Posta
Division of Conference and Document Services
Telephone: (+43 1) 2600 21340
Email: E.K.Posta@iaea.org

IAEA Secretariat:
International Atomic Energy Agency
IAEA-CN-175
Vienna International Centre
P.O. Box 100
Wagramer Strasse 5
1400 Vienna
Austria
Tel: (+43 1) 2600 0
Fax: (+43 1) 26007
Email: officialmail@iaea.org

13. CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION

The Participation Form and the Form for the Submission of a Paper/Poster, together with two copies of each synopsis, and, if applicable, the Grant Application Form, should be sent to the competent official authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs or national atomic energy authority) for transmission to the IAEA.

Subsequent correspondence on scientific matters should be sent to one of the Scientific Secretaries above and correspondence on administrative matters to the IAEA Conference Coordinator.

14. SYMPOSIUM WEBPAGE

Please visit the IAEA symposium web site regularly for new information regarding the symposium under:

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/Announcements.asp?ConfID=35425