Although the Chernobyl accident occurred two decades ago, much controversy remains concerning its real impact. These proceedings present the findings and recommendations of the Chernobyl Forum and the discussions held during the international conference “Chernobyl: Looking Back to Go Forwards” held in Vienna in September 2005. The Chernobyl Forum was a project initiated in 2003 by the IAEA, in cooperation with FAO, UNDP, UNEP, UN-OCHA, UNSCEAR, WHO and the World Bank as well as the competent authorities of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, to find consensus on the environmental consequences and health effects attributable to radiation exposure arising from the accident as well as to provide advice on environmental remediation and special health care programmes, and to suggest areas in which further research is required.

This publication is the proceedings of a technical meeting and contains 35 papers relating to front and back end fuel cycle strategies as well as future sustainable fuel cycle technology options. It provides a comprehensive review of the relative merits of the different fuel cycle options, valuable technical information on the current status and future direction of the fuel cycle in Member States, and essential information for policy makers and those involved in strategic planning.

Early planning and effective and safe implementation and completion of decommissioning of facilities using radioactive material is increasingly drawing the attention of regulators, operators, the public and other interested parties around the world. This publication is the proceedings of a conference convened with the aim of sharing experience and knowledge and to identify areas of international harmonization in the decommissioning of various facilities (e.g. nuclear power plants, fuel cycle facilities, research reactors, mining and mineral processing facilities, research laboratories). The conference addressed a wide range of topics, namely, the regulation of decommissioning activities, planning for decommissioning, implementation of decommissioning activities, waste management, technology, social and economic impacts and decommissioning of small facilities.

IAEA safeguards symposia are important forums for interaction between the IAEA Secretariat and Member States concerning safeguards and verification issues. This publication is the proceedings of a symposium held in 2006 which addressed the challenges to the IAEA safeguards system that have emerged, or intensified, since the previous symposium in 2001. Reflecting developments since then, the symposium covered five topics: current challenges to the safeguards system, further strengthening of safeguards practices and approaches, improving the collection and analysis of safeguards information, advances in safeguards techniques and technology, and future challenges. These proceedings contain the addresses given at the opening session, the technical plenary session and the closing session. The summary provides an overview of the oral presentations at the 21 sessions of the symposium. The invited papers presented during the various topical sessions, as well as papers exhibited at the poster sessions, are available on the included CD-ROM.

Technical and scientific support organizations (TSOs) are playing an increasingly important role in supporting national regulatory bodies and the nuclear industry by providing the technical and scientific expertise necessary to make optimum safety decisions. The aim of this conference was to address the challenges TSOs face in providing this support. The objective was also to provide the opportunity for TSOs from different countries, as well as other organizations and experts, to discuss and develop a common understanding of the opportunities, responsibilities and needs of TSOs; to explore appropriate approaches to addressing current and expected challenges in nuclear and radiation safety; and to discuss the roles, functions and value of TSOs. These proceedings include a summary, the opening speeches, the invited papers, and the President’s conference summary and conclusion. The accompanying CD-ROM contains unedited contributed papers and the presentations that were submitted with some of the invited papers.

The IAEA’s programme on Advanced Nuclear Techniques for Detection of Landmines and Bulk Explosive Material helps Member States to apply and develop nuclear techniques for this purpose. This publication is the proceedings of a technical meeting organized to evaluate combinations of technologies most appropriate for the detection of land mines and explosives in different landscapes, including civil security related applications. The objectives were to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of various methods, to discuss possible combinations of technologies and, in particular, to underline those aspects that make a specific technology well adapted to integration in more complex systems. Experimental results, as well as applicable simulations and calculations, have been presented to identify emerging and future issues and challenges. Topics include: applicability of nuclear techniques for explosives detection and humanitarian demining, combined systems (nuclear and non-nuclear techniques), developments in instrumentation, and issues relating to integrated research and education.

The conference of which this volume is the proceedings addressed recent policy issues, in particular multinational approaches and international cooperation, in spent fuel management including advanced fuel cycles. It also included the discussion of an international safety regime, an assessment of safety issues related to criticality safety and burnup credit, and the issues involved in the long term licensing of storage facilities for spent fuel. The technical issues related to spent fuel storage were also addressed, and included issues related to the storage facility, storage containers, and fuel. Additionaly, the proceedings include the conclusions of the Session Chairs and the overall findings of the Conference President. A CD-ROM with contributed papers is attached.

This CD contains the proceedings of an IAEA Technical Meeting on Issues and Science Relating to Fusion Power Plant Safety. Progress in fusion research and technology over the past two decades has boosted awareness of the potential of fusion to be a lasting and clean source of energy. There is now an increased demand to assess the balance between technological outputs and safety requirements aiming at satisfying the licensing requests for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Efforts in this direction started to develop during the ITER design phases, and the host factor has now been included in it. However, this work represents the beginning of a more challenging process: establishing the safety basis for the licensing of a demonstration fusion power plant (DEMO). During this meeting, major areas of relevance were identified and assessed, and scientific recommendations and guidelines were assembled to determine the direction of future research and development activities towards the licensing of a DEMO power plant. The meeting programme included a total of 28 papers. A summary of the meeting is also included.

The greatest potential for expanding agricultural land in most developing countries lies in the savannahs dominated by tropical acid and infertile soils. This publication contains the studies conducted in a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) involving ten Member States to develop integrated crop, soil, water and nutrient management practices to increase and sustain agricultural productivity of these soils in Africa and Latin America. The work covered a range of representative environments and cropping systems. Results showed how appropriate crop, soil, water and nutrient management improved soil fertility status, promoted better soil and water conservation and thereby increased crop productivity under local farming conditions. This publication highlights sound strategies and approaches, including the application of nuclear and related techniques needed to foster sustainable agricultural intensification in tropical regions while paving the way for future projects.

This CD is the proceedings of the 2006 IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, which was attended by over 700 scientists, engineers and policy makers. Participants discussed the major research topics across the whole field and, in particular, those that need to be tackled and planned for ITER’s successful exploitation. Investments in the range of several billions of dollars are foreseen to be made in the near future to develop magnetic and inertial confinement approaches further, by designing and building new research machines to push the limits of science and technology. These conference proceedings will serve as an important source of information for fusion scientists and interested researchers and decision makers worldwide.

The greatest potential for expanding agricultural land in most developing countries lies in the savannahs dominated by tropical acid and infertile soils. This publication contains the studies conducted in a Coordinated Research Project (CRP) involving ten Member States to develop integrated crop, soil, water and nutrient management practices to increase and sustain agricultural productivity of these soils in Africa and Latin America. The work covered a range of representative environments and cropping systems. Results showed how appropriate crop, soil, water and nutrient management improved soil fertility status, promoted better soil and water conservation and thereby increased crop productivity under local farming conditions. This publication highlights sound strategies and approaches, including the application of nuclear and related techniques needed to foster sustainable agricultural intensification in tropical regions while paving the way for future projects.

The nuclear power and technology sector, comprising industry, governments and academia, is a knowledge based endeavour similar to other highly technological industries. Recent trends, such as an ageing workforce and declining student enrolment, with the consequent risk of losing accumulated nuclear knowledge and experience, have drawn attention to the need for better management of nuclear knowledge. These proceedings are of a workshop on Managing Nuclear Knowledge which was jointly organized by the IAEA, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics and the World Nuclear University. The aim was to increase the awareness of Member States with respect to the challenge of nuclear knowledge management, to share the best practices and to provide a forum for the exchange of information among participating nuclear professionals.