Determining the presence of microplastic in environmental samples, removing pesticides from agricultural soil and studying how to grow tomatoes in outer space are all possible thanks to radiation techniques. These and many other topics will be discussed at the IAEA’s Second International Conference on the Application of Radiation Science and Technology (ICARST), which begins today.
The conference, held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 22 to 26 August, brings together some 800 radiation scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs and policymakers from 90 countries, to discuss the many uses of radiation in fields as diverse as industry, engineering, medicine and agriculture.
“We are trying to make science an instrument for real change,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said at the opening of the conference. “We foster and celebrate pure science, but we also are very focused on applications,” he noted, adding that many countries are increasingly adopting nuclear and radiation techniques for a variety of purposes, such as recycling plastics, treating cancer or addressing zoonotic disease outbreaks.
The first ICARST, held in 2017, discussed key scientific and technological advancements, forged multidisciplinary collaboration and stimulated new initiatives to foster the application of radiation techniques across sectors. Throughout the week of this year’s ICARST, leading scientists, engineers and industry professionals will share their ideas in a series of plenary sessions, presentations and panel discussions on how radiation technologies can contribute to addressing various pressing global challenges.
