Over 300 policymakers and experts participated in the two-day Scientific Forum during the IAEA's 63rd General Conference. (Photo: O. Yusuf/IAEA)
This year, the Renovation of the Nuclear Applications Laboratories (ReNuAL/ReNuAL+) project achieved important milestones. In May, a new energy centre to support the new laboratory buildings became operational, while in June, the Dosimetry Laboratory’s new Linear Accelerator Facility was formally opened.
Work remained on track for the delivery by the second quarter of 2020 of the new Yukiya Amano Laboratories building, which will house three additional laboratories. This year, around 4 million euros were mobilized for the project, and there were six first-time contributors: Argentina, Iran, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Nigeria and Viet Nam.
In May, isotope hydrology techniques were discussed, along with the importance of big data in the field, during the IAEA’s International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology.
In June, at another international symposium over 400 experts from 78 countries and 18 international and professional organizations exchanged knowledge on advances in practices and standards in radiation dosimetry, radiation medicine and radiation protection over the last decade. The symposium marked the 50-year anniversary of the IAEA/World Health Organization’s dosimetry audit service for radiotherapy.
In September, the IAEA held its first entirely virtual conference on theranostic approaches for managing treatment of patients with neuroendocrine, thyroid and prostate cancers. The conference featured 24 speakers and panellists and over 1000 participants from 79 countries attending the conference remotely.
A new roadmap was developed by the IAEA and the World Health Organization (WHO) to help countries design national cancer control programmes. It will provide guidance on available tools and resources for implementing services related to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. The roadmap was launched during the Scientific Forum on cancer control. This article summarizes the takeaways from the four thematic sessions of the forum.
At a symposium on radiopharmaceuticals, the first held by the IAEA in 15 years, a diverse group of professionals discussed cutting-edge advancements related to these pharmaceutical drugs that contain small amounts of radioactive isotopes. They explored their potential to provide better diagnostic techniques and more efficient therapies for various common diseases such as cancer.
During the IAEA’s 63rd General Conference, the IAEA designated several institutions as IAEA Collaborating Centres and announced other recently designated centres in China, Egypt, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Russia and Thailand.
The IAEA has stepped-up its emergency and capacity building assistance to several Asian countries to fight the emerging and unparalleled outbreak of African Swine Fever, as well as to African nations to control Avian Influenza and Equine Influenza.
In another major development in agricultural research with support from the IAEA, scientists have released a new banana variety resistant to a fungal disease that has decimated plantations in Asia and has appeared in Africa and Latin America recently.