Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The following countries align themselves with this statement: North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, Georgia, Iceland⁺, Norway⁺ and San Marino.

We commend Director General Grossi, Deputy Director General Evrard, and all their staff for compiling the annual Nuclear Security Report, which once again showcases the important work conducted from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.

The EU reaffirms the central role of the IAEA in promoting, sustaining, and strengthening the global nuclear security architecture. While the sole responsibility for nuclear security rests with a State and its competent national authorities, the Agency can make valuable contributions in response to high demand by Member States in building capacities, developing guidelines, facilitating national coordination as well as regional and international cooperation.

Chair,

We acknowledge the Agency’s activities aimed at developing guidance and training to support Member States in implementing measures that will effectively address current and evolving challenges, risks, and threats to nuclear security, including the implementation of multiple coordinated research projects. We support the efforts made by the Agency to provide support to Member States for enhancing their physical protection regimes and their legislative and regulatory frameworks and for facing emerging threats, including insider threats.

We invite the Secretariat to continue facilitating, in close cooperation with Member States, the coordination between nuclear safety and nuclear security and to address their interface also considering specific challenges), and we note the recent joint publication by the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) and the IAEA Advisory Group on Nuclear Security (AdSec) group of experts entitled “identifying interfaces and building synergies between nuclear safety and security”.

The EU and its Member States support the IAEA’s work on the nuclear security of Small Modular Reactors (SMR) to ensure that they are protected against insider and external threats and invite the Agency to further develop such consideration in the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI).

The EU and its Member States call on all IAEA Member States to participate actively in the preparation of the International Conference on Nuclear Security: Shaping the Future (ICONS 2024) in May 2024.

We welcome the efforts of the Agency to continue promoting the universalisation and implementation of the Amended Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (A/CPPNM). We highlight the importance of concrete capacity-building activities to strengthen States’ legislative and regulatory frameworks.

The EU and its Member States underline the importance of further awareness-raising about the essential role of nuclear security and nuclear security culture for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear technology, and thus welcome continued communication on nuclear security activities through several platforms and the activities on Nuclear Security in Practice and nuclear security self-assessment.

The EU and its Member States welcome the completion of the fund mobilisation for the capital construction and procurement costs of the Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre (NSTDC) at the Agency’s Seibersdorf laboratories and note with satisfaction that the first training activities are planned from October 2023 onwards. Regarding its long-term sustainability, the EU appreciates the decisions and efforts of the Agency to avoid duplication and ensure complementarity with training opportunities offered in Member States and Nuclear Security Support Centres such as the European Nuclear Security Training Centre (EUSECTRA).

We signal with satisfaction the 10^th anniversary of the Practical Arrangements between the European Commission and the IAEA on cooperation on nuclear security technical issues, which enable efficient joint actions in capacity building and global outreach.  

The EU CBRN Centres of Excellence Initiative also contributes to strengthening nuclear security by mitigating CBRN risks and strengthening all-hazards security governance in 64 partner countries. The EU’s support is provided to a wide range of activities, including needs and risk assessments, national and regional action plans, capacity building, legal framework reviews, tabletop and real-time field exercises, including cross-border exercises, exchange of best practices, and lessons learnt and drafting of manuals and guides.

The EU commends the IAEA for its work to assist Member States in reviewing their nuclear security regimes and identifying areas where they need to be strengthened, including the Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plans (INSSPs).

We underline the need for timely, reliable and sufficient resources for the Agency to implement its nuclear security activities, including from the Nuclear Security Fund (NSF) and Regular Budget. The EU and its Member States remain major donors to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund and encourage all IAEA Member States to support it.

The EU and its Member States welcome the activities of the Secretariat in response to requests for support related to strengthening physical protection at facilities with high-activity radioactive sources and the implementation of first-of-a-kind projects of borehole disposal. We also welcome the activities promoting the adherence to and the implementation of the Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, and its supplementary guidances.

We believe the Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB) continues to serve as a valuable resource in exchanging information, and we encourage Member States to report, voluntarily and in a timely manner, incidents of nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control.

We also emphasize the importance of international cooperation in nuclear forensics to ensure effective analysis of such materials. Likewise, multilateral discussions and exchange of information on nuclear detection technology and global capacity building, including field and tabletop exercises with EU Member States and global partners, are extremely valuable to reinforce the central role of the IAEA and the contribution of international groups such as the Border Monitoring Working Group or the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group.

We thank the Secretariat for the organization of the recently held International Conference on Computer Security in the Nuclear World: Security for Safety and invite the Secretariat to inform Member States about its consideration of the recommendations of the Conference to inform the IAEA´s future planning and programmatic activities in relation to cybersecurity, including computer security, and the promotion of international exchange between experts and policy-makers.

We acknowledge Member States’ demand for a technical assistance for major public events, including loans and donations of handheld radiation detection devices, and training on their use and calibration, which underlines the benefits for Member States of the IAEA’s wide range of support regarding nuclear security.

The EU and its Member States take note with appreciation of the Secretariat’s ongoing effort to reinforce the internal planning and management of nuclear security activities along Result Basement Management lines and underline the importance of more focus on project outcomes and of a more systematic approach to capacity building and the deployment of Agency resources.

We appreciate the IAEA’s initiatives, such as the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme, to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the field of nuclear security. The EU remains the largest donor and several EU Member States contribute also directly to this programme.

Chair,

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues to deliberately put at risk the physical integrity of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and the nuclear material stored at the sites. The EU and its Member States continue to express particular concern for the potential risk caused by radioactive sources out of regulatory control and welcome the IAEA’s fact-finding mission to Kyiv and Kharkiv in July as part of its Support and Assistance Mission on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources in Ukraine (ISAMRAD). The EU reiterates its support to the IAEA Director General’s “seven indispensable pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security during an armed conflict” and the five principles he presented to the UNSC on 30 May 2023 to avert a nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The EU will continue to support Ukraine and the IAEA activities to this aim. We request further regular briefings and reporting to the Board of Governors on the implementation of these principles to facilitate appropriate follow-up in the IAEA policy-making bodies.

The EU and its Member States look forward to receiving further information about the Agency’s ongoing review of the issues and challenges in the application of the IAEA’s safety standards and nuclear security guidance in armed conflicts.

With these comments, Chair, the EU takes note of the Nuclear Security Report 2023, as contained in GOV/2023/37.

Thank you, Chair.

* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

+ Iceland and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.