Ashot Martirosyan, Chairman of the Armenian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, and Dazhu Yang, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, signed Armenia's Country Programme Framework (CPF) for the period of 2018-2023 on 17 September 2018, in the presence of Garegin Baghramyan, Deputy Minister of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources. 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.
Armenia has been an IAEA Member State since 1993. Its 2018-2023 CPF identifies five priority areas:
- Strengthening the national legal and regulatory infrastructure for nuclear and radiation safety and security, radioactive waste management safety, and transport safety
- Licensing of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant for long term operation for the continuous supply of nuclear power
- Improving environmental radiation monitoring to control water and food contamination and releases and discharges from nuclear and radiological accidents
- Improving medical imaging and radiotherapy services;
- Improving nuclear safety, operational reliability and radiation protection for the operation and lifetime extension of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant
