News and information

12 June 2017, Astana. National radiological and nuclear (RN) experts from 12 African countries will meet in Astana this week to discuss progress in the implementation of their joint project Support to the EU CBRN Center of Excellence for Central and Eastern Africa in Nuclear Security (Project 60). Representing the Steering Committee of the project, the experts will share observations on the P 60 initial activities, including the submission of Letters of expression of interest from their national authorities. The Steering Committee members will also deliberate timing and preference to host training courses, table top and field exercises, the schedule of expert visits and the need of public advocacy and awareness raising events in the P 60 participating countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, The Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Namibia. The national stakeholders’ interaction and their experiences with the elaboration of National Radiological and Nuclear Response Plans is also part of the meeting’s agenda. Project 60 Steering Committee is convened by the project’s implementing partner - the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) in Astana. Representatives of the European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO), the European Commission Joint Research Centre…

1 June 2017, Astana. On 31 May 2017 in the framework of the Europe Day celebration, a European Union Projects Fair and a European classical music concert were held in Astana. The annual event aimed to promote European values and to present the numerous projects and initiatives that are implemented in Kazakhstan with funding from the European Union. Project 60 Support to the EU CBRN Center of Excellence for Eastern and Central Africa in Nuclear Security took part in the Projects Fair, as one of the EU-funded projects implemented by the International Science and Technology Center. The Project 60 team welcomed at the ISTC stand colleagues, guests and friends who were curious to learn more about the activities, managed from Astana and taking place in Africa. Leaflets, posters and banners of the project were displayed together with briefs about the upcoming Regional Radiological Emergency Response Exercise “SUNKAR”. The presentation of Project 60 at the Europe Projects Fair took place less than two weeks prior to the meeting of the Steering Committee of the multi-country initiative on nuclear security. Ambassador Traian Hristea, Head of the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan, visited the ISTC stand. “This is a significant month”, said Ambassador Hristea,…

18 May 2017, Brussels.  The P-60 participating states had a lot to rejoice during the EU CBRN Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence Initiative Fifth International Meeting of the National Focal Points. All of the representatives of the P-60 countries from Eastern and Central Africa (ECA) region gathered from 16 through 18 May 2017, in hotel Metropole in Brussels, except for Namibia, a specific P-60 member that for the moment does not belong to any of the three Africa based EU CBRN Centres of Excellence. The P-60 countries National Focal Points discussed a plethora of topics with their colleagues from the rest of the eight Regional Secretariats, DEVCO and EEAS officials, UNICRI and international organizations, On-Site Assistance experts, project implementing agencies, including the International Science and Technology Centre. At the final wrap up session of the gathering, Mr Joseph Maina, an established nuclear expert from the Kenyan Radiation Protection Board who heads the ECA Regional Secretariat, had to put in a concise report a lot of themes and conclusions. During their Ninth National Focal Points Round-Table Meeting that took place in the course of the Brussels event, NFPs agreed that a united approach is needed to successfully face the global threats,…

5 April 2017, Astana. A congratulatory letter on behalf of the Youth Department of the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan was delivered by ISTC’s Senior Programme Manager and Diplomatic Advisor Kamen Velichkov to the participants in the Inaugural African Youth Nuclear Summit, held last week in Nairobi. The letter was read to over 200 young and senior professionals in nuclear from 20 + countries who gathered for the four-day event in the capital of Kenya. The Kenyan Young Generation in Nuclear (KYGN) hosted the Summit thanks to the generous backing of the EU’s funded Project 60, managed by the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC). KYGN organized the Summit in conjunction with the South African Young Nuclear Professionals Society (SAYNPS) both being affiliate bodies to the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC) – a global network of professionals in the nuclear industry. ISTC, which maintains fruitful contacts with the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan and its youth section, initiated the first formal contact between the Kazakhstani nuclear youth and the African young professionals in nuclear. “The theme and aims of the summit are all alarming issues. It is essential to pass the knowledge from the present day leading scientists to the future generations… We…

2 April 2017, Nairobi. The Inaugural African Youth Nuclear Summit 2017 took place last week in Nairobi, where Project 60 was presented to an international audience of young and senior nuclear professionals from the academia, research and development, radiation services providers, healthcare, nuclear operators, and nuclear regulators among others. Kamen Velichkov, ISTC Senior Programme Manager and Diplomatic Advisor, took part in the event, together with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Nuclear Association (WNA), the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the EU CBRN Center of Excellence for Eastern and Central Africa, the International Youth Nuclear Congress (IYNC), and many other participants from national and regional professional  organizations from Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Kenya, Belgium, Canada, Sweden, USA, China, and Eastern Africa. Just a month after its official launch with national stakeholders from its 12 participating countries, Project 60 stepped into an international stage where top-notch experts from across the “Nuclear Globe” discussed various aspects of the nuclear science, technology and industry; nuclear politics, economics, communication and social aspects and the involvement of young professionals in demystifying nuclear science and technology in Africa. With its focus on strengthening the nuclear security in the region of East…

24 February 2017, Nairobi. The Inception meeting of a new project that will boost nuclear safety and security in the region of Eastern and Central Africa, offered ample opportunities to the representatives of national regulatory bodies, scientific and research institutes from eleven African countries and to their partners from European institutions and supporting organizations, to chart a road map for their joint endeavour. As a convener of the meeting in Nairobi at the end of February, the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) – the project’s implementing partner – presented the guiding principles, working schedule, main activities and expected results of the initiative, titled Support to the European Union Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Center of Excellence (EU CBRN CoE) for Eastern and Central Africa in Nuclear Security. The experts on radiological and nuclear (RN) issues from the participating countries shared information about existing legal frameworks, institutional mechanisms and national policies on nuclear safety and security; they approved an initial outline for specialized trainings and field exercises that will increase their capabilities to better respond to RN risks; and agreed that the project’s envisaged activities can help them better address the challenges of managing RN sources in all industrial and…

Astana, 17 February 2017. Experts on radiological and nuclear (RN) issues from state institutions and research communities of eleven African countries are convening in Nairobi to kick start a new project on nuclear safety and security in the region. They will share information about existing legal frameworks, institutional mechanisms and national policies on nuclear safety and security; will voice their needs of specialized training, field exercises, and equipment to better respond to RN risks; and will discuss ways and means to address efficiently the challenges of managing RN sources in all industrial and medical domains, and of ensuring safe trans-border transportation of RN materials. The new project is titled Support to the European Union Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Center of Excellence (EU CBRN CoE) for Eastern and Central Africa in Nuclear Security and involves the following countries:  Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, The Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Namibia. The overall long-term objective of the project is to strengthen and harmonize the nuclear regulatory frameworks in the participating countries, to enhance their nuclear safety and security and to support their efforts to fulfill the international safeguards obligations they have assumed under a plethora of UN and multilateral treaties…

The meeting took place on the initiative of ISTC, in Astana, on 28 November 2016. Ambassador Williams Nkurunziza received with interest the short debrief on the ISTC-implemented P-60 project on nuclear security in eleven African countries, including Rwanda. He explained that in Rwanda there is limited use of radiological materials, mainly for medical purposes. However, the project will be very useful in raising public awareness about the need to deal properly with nuclear materials, in full compliance with the relevant safeguard rules and requirements.