New IAEA reports on response to the COVID–19 pandemic

As the world grapples with COVID‑19, the IAEA has adjusted ways of working to ensure its operations continue with minimal disruptions under the extraordinary circumstances.

At the meeting of the Board of Governors, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi presented three reports on the Agency’s COVID‑19 related work. The reports on support to Member States in the fight against the pandemic, support to nuclear and radiation facility operators and safeguards implementation during the crisis, have also been made available to the public.

“I said when the crisis began that there were two areas of the Agency’s work which would not be halted, no matter what happened,” said the Director-General in his introductory statement to the Board of Governors. “We would continue to implement safeguards to prevent any misuse of nuclear material and activities for non-peaceful purposes. And we would do everything we possibly could to assist Member States in confronting the coronavirus.”

The Report on IAEA Support to Member State Efforts in Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic describes the IAEA’s delivery of support to 120 countries and territories that have requested Agency support to use the nuclear-related RT-PCR technology for the detection of COVID-19 infections. The shipments have included detection equipment, that is, real-time RT‑PCR and kits, together with reagents and laboratory consumables, as well as biosafety supplies such as personal protection equipment for the safe analysis of samples.

The IAEA, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has also provided guidance on COVID-19 detection to 253 laboratory professionals from 119 countries through the VETLAB network. In addition, the IAEA has been conducting webinars to help health care providers in nuclear medicine, radiology and radiation oncology throughout the world in adjusting their work procedures to cope with the pandemic.

The Report on the operation, safety and security of nuclear and radiation facilities and activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic talks about the Agency’s activities related to the specific challenges faced by operators of nuclear power plants, research reactors and other nuclear facilities across the world, and its enhanced efforts to facilitate information exchange by ensuring that all the relevant databases and systems for reporting remain functional.

The IAEA rapidly developed and piloted the COVID-19 NPP OPEX Network, intended for sharing information and experience on crisis response actions among operating organizations, technical support organizations, relevant international organizations and other stakeholders. No country reported enforced shutdown of any nuclear power reactors resulting from the effects of COVID-19.

The Report on safeguards implementation during the COVID-19 Pandemic discusses measures taken by the IAEA to continue its verification work to make sure that nuclear material and technology are not diverted from peaceful use.

Original source: IAEA
Published on 18 June 2020