The IAEA will host an international conference from 22-26 February to highlight experience gained in the field of nuclear safety culture and to look at how safety can be ensured in the future.
A culture for safety establishes that safety issues are an overriding priority that will receive the required attention. It includes an organization’s shared values, attitudes and patterns of behaviour, and it takes into account both human and organizational aspects.
In a strong safety culture, safety is seen as a continuing process of improvement to which everyone can contribute.
The term safety culture was introduced following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Weaknesses in safety culture were seen as a contributor to that accident, and insufficient safety culture also was determined to be a factor in the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The conference will look at lessons from those accidents as well as that the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and other major events in the nuclear and other high-hazard industries, such as aviation, health care as well as oil and gas.
In addition, the conference will highlight current research and development as well as approaches and practices. The more than 350 participants – representatives from IAEA Member States and international organizations – also will look at future demands and needs to assure safe performance.
The conference agenda includes technical sessions, poster sessions and dialogue sessions, as well as side events.
Journalists are invited to the opening session, set to start at 13:00 in Boardroom B of the Vienna International Centre’s M-Building. Speakers at the opening session include IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano and Nick Stavropoulos, President, Gas, at the U.S. Pacific Gas and Electric Company and, Conference Chair Michael Weightman, former Chief Inspector of nuclear installations of the United Kingdom.
Journalists are also invited to the end of the closing session, set to start at 13:20 on Friday, 26 February in Boardroom B. Speakers at that session include Michael Weightman and IAEA Deputy Director General Juan Carlos Lentijo, Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security. Other parts of the conference are closed to the media, but journalists interested in interviewing conference speakers or participants are encouraged to contact the IAEA press office.
More information is available at the conference website and in this article.
Accreditation:
All journalists are requested to inform the IAEA Press Office of their plans to attend. Journalists with permanent credentials to the VIC need no additional credentials. We encourage those journalists who do not yet have permanent accreditation, to request it at UNIS Vienna.
Others should contact the press office for accreditation. Please email press@iaea.org or call [+43-1] 2600-21273.