Uzbekistan to Establish Atomic Energy Agency

Uzbekistan is to establish an new Atomic Energy Development Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers; raising the level of the agency which currently exists as a subdivision of the Ministry of Energy. The move supports plans for the construction of Uzbekistan’s first-ever nuclear power plant and aligns with the Presidential Decree “On measures to improve the system of public administration and control in the field of subsoil use, industrial, radiation and nuclear safety, as well as the use of atomic energy,” adopted on 24 May. Once in operation, the new Atomic Energy Agency will be responsible for state policy in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. The presidential decree also includes the establishment of a Committee for Industrial, Radiation and Nuclear Safety conducted by the Cabinet of Ministers. As a national executive body, the committee will be charged with the implementation and coordination of a unified state policy to oversee and ensure safety measures at nuclear energy and nuclear technology facilities and at hazardous production facilities.  

Kazakhstan To Co-Chair Conference On Nuclear Security

The 2024 International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS-2024) will be held in Vienna, Austria from May 20th to 24th. The conference is being organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and will be jointly chaired by Kazakhstan and Australia.  The forum will bring together more than 2,000 nuclear security experts from 178 IAEA member states, as well as the heads of foreign services and relevant ministries. Kazakhstan and Australia’s representatives to the International Organizations, Mukhtar Tleuberdi and Ian Biggs, held a briefing in the United Nations Office in Vienna on February 5th.  The conference will showcase the achievements of IAEA member states in nuclear security, and strengthening control over nuclear and other radioactive materials. Kazakhstan and Australia will play key roles in developing the conference’s final document, the ICONS-2024 Ministerial Declaration, which will become a roadmap for further promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy, making nuclear facilities more safe, and encouraging the effective exchange of international experience and knowledge.