Update as of 05/01/2022: The First International Conference on Nuclear Law: the Global Debate has been postponed and will take place from 25 to 29 April 2022.
The IAEA is organizing its first International Conference on Nuclear Law: The Global Debate (ICNL 2022), from 25 to 29 April 2022, at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Over five days, the Conference will provide a unique forum for leading experts from governments, industry, academia and civil society to share experiences and discuss topical issues with a view to developing further the various areas of nuclear law and promoting international expertise in this field.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the Conference during his opening statement at the November 2020 meeting of the Board of Governors. The Director General highlighted that “Nuclear law is an essential prerequisite for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear technology and its applications. This conference, the first of its kind for the Agency, is an important opportunity for us to take stock and discuss nuclear law for the future.” Director General Grossi continued that through this conference, “We are able to integrate and bring together the many valuable efforts being made throughout the world in this field, not just by governments, but also by our UN system partners, regional organizations, insurance and nuclear industries, its associations and its advisers, think tanks, NGOs, civil society, academia and many others.”
Although a highly specialized field of law, nuclear law permeates the entire nuclear sector. Whether it be in the form of multilateral treaties on the safety and security of nuclear power plants, agreements enabling the IAEA verification of nations’ nuclear non-proliferation commitments, provisions enabling emergency preparedness and response or those addressing questions of compensation and civil liability for nuclear damage. Nuclear law also needs to accommodate emerging technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and underpins the role of nuclear science and technology in addressing climate change.
ICNL 2022 will include plenary and topical sessions, as well as moderated presentations and/or panel discussions delivered by selected participants, based on submitted papers. The formal conference announcement will be issued at the end of March 2021.
Further information is available here.
