IAEA Board of Governors Meeting, Agenda Item 3: Strengthening the Agency’s Activities Related to Nuclear Science, Technology, and Applications

U.S. statement as delivered by Political Officer Rachael Parrish
Vienna, Austria, March 8, 2022

Thank you, Chair.

First, today we are pleased to celebrate International Women’s Day. We would like to thank the Director General and the IAEA for their efforts to promote women in science and technology, especially through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship.

Chair,

The United States thanks the Secretariat for this year’s report on recent developments in the application of nuclear energy, science, and technology, and we emphasize the valuable role that these applications can play in addressing global challenges.

The United States seeks to promote the fullest possible exchange of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes in accordance with our commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We consistently demonstrate our commitment to peaceful uses with strong financial and expert support to the IAEA’s work in these areas. In the past ten years, the United States has contributed over $345 million to the IAEA in support of its peaceful uses activities, which includes our contributions to the Technical Cooperation Fund, as well as cost-free experts and other in-kind support. In addition, we have contributed over $132 million to the IAEA’s Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI) since its inception in 2010. We urge others to contribute through the PUI and other voluntary funding mechanisms to support the IAEA’s critical work in advancing the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, science, and technology.

Chair,

Noting that the report states that global interest in nuclear power continues to grow, we emphasize our support for the IAEA’s work to promote the development and implementation of infrastructure to support nuclear technology and energy in IAEA Member States, including our significant PUI contributions to IAEA projects in this area. We further emphasize the critical importance of high standards of nuclear safety and security together with rigorous and effective nonproliferation measures in implementing civilian nuclear programs. We underscore the value of the Agency’s Peer Review Missions and emphasize U.S. support for the Agency’s continued application of the “Milestones Approach” in its work with countries interested in nuclear power. We look forward to hosting the IAEA’s International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Power in the 21st Century in Washington, D.C., in October 2022.

Chair,

We welcome the Agency’s continued efforts to further Member States’ acceptance of and access to nuclear and nuclear-derived technologies in fields ranging from human health to food and agriculture. We note the critical role of the nuclear applications laboratories at Seibersdorf in developing, testing, and scaling technology to meet the needs of IAEA Member States. We are pleased to join with others in making an announcement of support for a new, extrabudgetary allocation for the final phase of the project to upgrade these laboratories, otherwise known as “ReNuAL 2,” which will increase the IAEA’s capacity to respond to Member State needs in many of the areas addressed in the Nuclear Technology Review. We also wish to express our support for the IAEA’s new program, “Rays of Hope,” which aims to close the gap in cancer care, particularly focusing on locations most in need of life-saving radiation treatment infrastructure. We were pleased to allocate $2.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration to provide two medical linear accelerators to Kenya under Rays of Hope.

Our strong commitment to the IAEA’s programs that assist Member States to apply peaceful uses to meet their national development priorities – from energy to food and health – is grounded in the positive impacts that these programs have on Member States. The United States is grateful for the thoughtful and productive conversations regarding peaceful uses in preparation for the upcoming 10th Review Conference of the NPT. We are pleased to note that even though the NPT Review Conference has been postponed, we continue to take steps towards promoting a new Sustained Dialogue on Peaceful Uses as described in the joint working paper with the United Kingdom on “Facilitating Dialogue to Support Enhanced Peaceful Uses Cooperation,” published in December 2021. We encourage others to join us as co-sponsors of this working paper and further encourage active participation in the Sustained Dialogue on Peaceful Uses as it moves forward.

Chair,

With these comments, the United States takes note of GOV/2022/2 and requests that it be transmitted to the General Conference.

Thank you, Chair.