What You Need to Know about the Largest Global Nuclear Conference

The 69th IAEA General Conference is being held from 15 to 19 September 2025 at the Vienna International Centre (VIC) in Vienna, Austria. 

Around 2,500-3,000 participants, the majority of whom represent IAEA Member States. The event also attracts around 100 delegates from international organizations and 200 from NGOs. The livestream is followed by 10,000-15,000 people around the world.  

The conference opens with a statement from the Director General, summing up the key issues facing the Agency this year. This is followed by statements from the UN Secretary General (delivered by proxy), and from the outgoing and incoming conference presidents. Each Member State representative is given the opportunity to give a short national statement before the group starts working down the agenda. Items of discussion are either adopted by consensus or put to a vote, with some discussions on some resolutions going late into the night. See all statements as they are posted. 

esolutions adopted by the General Conference cover a wide range of issues — including potential applications for membership of the Agency, budget, activities related to nuclear science, technology and applications, technical cooperation, nuclear safety and security, and non-proliferation. They set the tone for international cooperation on nuclear issues. See here for the resolutions passed last year. 

During the week, over one hundred side events and exhibitions are held, where attendees can explore new scientific developments, tour laboratories, and share knowledge and expertise on a breadth of subjects. 

The conference also hosts the annual Scientific Forum, where scientists, policy makers and ministers hone in on a nuclear-related topic. Every year, the forum examines how nuclear science and technology can help address a pressing global challenge. Previous Scientific Forum themes include food security, nuclear energy for net zero, cancer care and more. 

• Atoms for Water: This year’s two-day Scientific Forum from Tuesday 16 to Wednesday 17 will be focused on water and how nuclear techniques can help countries manage their scarce water resources more effectively.  

• The new IAEA visitor centre will be inaugurated during the week. . Located in Seibersdorf, Austria, it will host state-of-the-art interactive exhibits that allow visitors to learn more about how the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science , and technology are addressing global challenges like energy, health, food security, plastic pollution, cultural heritage preservation and more. Watch this space for more information. 

• The IAEA will inaugurate a new transportable e-beam facility housed in a 40-foot shipping container, that can be loaned to countries to help them in industry, medicine and scientific research. 

• Participants can tour radiation protection and water laboratories at the VIC, as well as safeguards equipment facilities and much more. 

• Member countries, the IAEA and partner organizations will host several side events that delve into nuclear issues.  View the full list of events. 

• A number of countries will host national exhibitions in the VIC. See the full list for 2025 here. 

The working languages of the General Conference are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Delegates can switch between these languages thanks to the skills of the UN’s Interpretation Section.  

Together the 75 UN interpreters and 70 IAEA translators provide language services for the GC plenary and other key meetings, often back-to-back until midnight.  In 2024, the IAEA team alone translated over 1 million words for the General Conference! 

Yes, the General Conference Sessions at the Plenary Hall, including the key addresses of officials and delegates, are streamed live during the whole week. Sessions of the Scientific Forum are also streamed here.  

Watch the video below for highlights from the 2024 IAEA General Conference.  

Watch video recaps from previous years here: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, or flick through all General Conference photo albums here. 

In 2024, the IAEA ran a live conference blog with regular updates from the conference, complementing the daily highlights and regular news articles. You can look at what happened last year here and stay updated in real time for the 2025 General Conference from Monday on.