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Prospectus

Title: / Sub-Regional Meetingon Illicit Nuclear Trafficking Information Management and Coordination
Place: / SlovakRepublic
Date: / 19-22 May 2009
Organizers: / The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the SlovakRepublic
Objectives: / The meeting is aimed at strengthening national, regional, and international capacity to prevent and combat illicit trafficking in nuclear and other radioactive materials through enhanced information cooperation. This meeting should contribute to the achievement of the following goals:
1) To enhance awareness and understanding of illicit trafficking incidents and developments globally and on the regional level to support national risk assessments;
2) To promote the culture of relevant information management, coordination, and sharing on national, regional, and international levels, as an essential element in combating illicit trafficking and strengthening nuclear security;
3) To promote national illicit trafficking information management and coordination as an essential prerequisite of effective international cooperation;
4) To enhance awareness of the IAEA Illicit Trafficking Database (ITDB) programme, its goals and objectives, operations and benefits, and of Project Geiger implemented in cooperation between the IAEA and Interpol;
5) To improve understanding of how ITDB information and reports could be used to support the implementation of national nuclear security;
6) To promote membership in the ITDB programme;
7) To share information collection and analysis methodologies to support national analytical efforts.
Nature of the meeting: / The meeting should involve a high degree of interactivity – “two-way street.” The meeting programme will consist of lecturers’ presentations, countries’ presentations, and round-table discussions.
Participation: / The meeting is open to participants fromBelarus, CzechRepublic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation, Slovakia and Ukraine. One expert from the EC Joint Research Center – Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) will be invited as lecturer.
Participant’s qualifications: / 1) National focal points
  • States, members of the ITDB programme, are invited to nominate their national Point of Contact (POC) for the ITDB, or an alternate.
  • States, not members of the ITDB programme, are invited to nominate a national focal point (NFP) for coordination of information on illicit trafficking and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive material among competent authorities within the State and with foreign partners, or an alternate. If such focal point does not exist, States are requested to nominate an official from a national authority which would be best placed for such a position.
2) Other relevant officials
  • POCs and NFPs are requested to facilitate the nomination of officials from other national competent authorities involved in combating illicit nuclear trafficking,and who participate in the national information management and coordination system, or, if no such system has been established, would be best positioned to be included in such a system.

Participants’ preparation: / Participants nominated for the meeting must come prepared to contribute to the work of the meeting. National presentations are highly desirable. Presentations should include overview of relevant incidents which occurred in the country and analysis of trends and patterns. The presentations should also include the overview of national systems to combat illicit trafficking and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive materials, and systems for management and coordination of information on such events. IAEA will provide written guidance for the preparationof the presentations. Members of national teams are advised to meet together prior to the meeting to coordinate the preparation of the presentation.
National presentations are essential elements of the meeting. They should be informative, thought provoking, and encourage discussions.
Languages: / All lectures and discussions will be held in English.
Application procedures: / Nominations should be submitted on the standard IAEA Nomination Form for Training Course. Completed forms should be endorsed by relevant national authorities and returned to the Agency through the official channels (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Atomic Energy Authority, or the Office of the United Nations Development Programme). Applications must be received by the International Atomic Energy Agencyby27 March 2009.
Advanced nominations by facsimile or by e-mail are welcomed ASAP to make preliminary evaluation of the candidates easier. Advance nominations should be sent to the meetingScientific Secretary Viacheslav Turkin in the IAEA Office of Nuclear Security:fax: +43-1-2600-29250 or +43-1-2600-29299 or e-mail . Nominations sent directly by individuals or by private institutions couldn’t be considered.
Administrative and Financial Arrangements: / Nominating Governments will be informed, in due course, of the names of the selected candidates and at that time will be given full details of the procedure to be followed with regard to the administrative and financial matters.
During their attendance at the meeting, participants from countries eligible to receive technical assistance will be provided by the IAEA with a UN DSA to cover the cost of their accommodation, food and minor incidental expenses. The IAEA will also pay the full cost of their air travel, economy class, from their home countries to meeting venue and back in accordance to the Agency financial rules for non-staff duty travel.
The organizers of the meeting do not accept liability for the payment of any costs or compensation that may arise from damage to or loss of personal property from illness, injury, disability or death of a participant while he/she is travelling to and from or attending the meeting, and it is clearly understood that each Government, in nominating participants takes responsibility for such coverage. Governments would be well advised to take out insurance against these risks.