IAEA Director General in Russia opens ATOMEXPO and Nuclear Management School, meets President Putin

“We have to keep our eyes on developments [in instrumentation and control systems] and gather sufficient evidence that these technologies and solutions are mature enough for applications in our industry,” Mr Chudakov said. “The IAEA stands ready to support the global nuclear community in this crucial field.”

More experts in nuclear

In conjunction with the ATOMEXPO forum in Sochi, the week-long Russia–IAEA Nuclear Energy Management School for managers in nuclear organizations took place. The school’s aim is to ensure that the next generation of nuclear professionals acquire the knowledge and expertise to manage complex nuclear programmes efficiently and safely.

“Ensuring the availability of highly qualified staff to assume responsibility for the safe, secure and sustainable operation of nuclear facilities in the coming decades is extremely important,” Mr Amano said during his opening speech at the school. “We also need to ensure that critical knowledge is not lost when experts retire.”

Mr Amano said that sharing and maintaining specialist knowledge is a challenge both in countries with established nuclear power programmes and newcomer countries — countries considering introducing nuclear power.

The IAEA organized the first Nuclear Energy Management School, together with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, in Trieste, Italy in 2010 and it has since taken place annually in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the United States, South Africa and Russia. The 21 Nuclear Energy Management Schools held so far have trained more than 700 young professionals from both newcomer and expanding countries. The Schools are open to applicants from all IAEA Member States.