Mr Alodan Maher A, Chief Atomic Energy Officer, King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, Saudi Arabia, and Mr Dazhu Yang, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, have signed Saudi Arabia’s Country Programme Framework (CPF) for the period of 2017–2021 on 30 May 2017. A CPF is the frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a Member State and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals.
Saudi Arabia has been an IAEA Member State since 1962. Its 2017–20121 CPF identifies 13 priority areas:
- Nuclear Energy, Planning and Implementation
- Regulatory Infrastructure for Radiation and Nuclear Safety
- Research Reactor
- Nuclear Security and Safeguards
- Uranium exploration and investment
- Radioactive Waste Management
- Water Resource Management and desalination
- Environmental Monitoring
- Human Health
- Emergency Preparedness and Response
- Radioisotopes Applications and Utilization in Food and Agriculture and Industrial Applications
- Human Resources Development for various nuclear applications
- Value Chains and Industrial Relations