Rabat – This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) designated the Moroccan Agency of Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security (AMSSNuR) as the first African IAEA Capacity Building Center (CBC) for Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR). With this new building included, there are now seven centers worldwide.
The IAEA is an “autonomous intergovernmental organization dedicated to increasing the contribution of atomic energy to the world’s peace and well-being and ensuring that agency assistance is not used for military purposes.” The Agency is the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization under the United Nations. Its other centers are located in China, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Japan (Chiba Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture), and Austria (headquarters).
The IAEA Capacity Building Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response promotes expert “radiological EPR education, training, knowledge management and networking and human resource development.” More than ten countries including the United States, Brazil, Spain, and Egypt are also applying to hold centers.
The Moroccan EPR CBC will hold IAEA-approved training workshops and events for Morocco and other African countries to “strengthen their national EPR capacities,” according to the press release on the site. The Center will be a resource for the IAEA safety standards and the IAEA’s EPR publications, including lectures and practical demonstrations.
IAEA Deputy Director General Juan Carlos Lentijo, Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, and Khammar Mrabit, Director General of the AMSSNuR signed for the building on May 21 in Vienna.
“The IAEA appreciates the willingness of AMSSNuR to expand the IAEA’s network of CBCs for EPR,” said Director Lentijo. “With this signing, we strengthen our cooperation to build EPR expertise in Africa.”
