Celebrating 25 Years of Technical Cooperation for Promotion of Nuclear Science, Technology in Latin America, Caribbean

The IAEA celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Regional Agreement of Technical Cooperation for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL) for the peaceful use of nuclear energy as well as its applications for development during the 53rd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, taking place this week. The Board of Country Representatives of ARCAL (BAR) is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Regional Agreement of Technical Cooperation for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL) from 14 - 18 September, during the 53rd General Conference of the IAEA in Vienna, Austria. Through sustainable horizontal technical and economic cooperation over the past 25 years, the IAEA Member States of Latin America and the Caribbean have expressed their solidarity and commitment to the establishment and improvement of technical capabilities in nuclear science and technology within the region, with the goal of promoting the use of diverse nuclear techniques and their applications for peaceful use in the region. Thanks to the ARCAL agreement, a mechanism for regular meetings and discussions has been established between professionals working in the nuclear field in Latin America and the Caribbean. ARCAL was established in 1984, thanks to the initiative of the Andean Group countries. At the moment, ARCAL has 19 Member States: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. The main thematic areas covered by the technical cooperation projects sponsored by the IAEA through the ARCAL agreement are human health, agriculture and food security, physics and chemistry sciences, engineering and technology, hydrology, industrial applications, environment and nuclear security. During its 25 years, the ARCAL regional agreement has received a total of $33.32 million from the IAEA, and has completed 72 projects in the aforementioned areas. Many resources are concentrated in the area of human health (25%). Technical cooperation support is provided in the form of expert missions, fellowships, scientific visits, training courses and in some cases as donations of equipment. Currently, ARCAL has 34 active projects for the cycle 2009-2011, mostly in the area of agriculture and food security (40%). For more information visit: http://www.iaea.org, http://www-tc.iaea.org.