IAEA and IEEE formalize cooperation
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) announced yesterday they had signed an agreement establishing practical arrangements to cooperate in sharing of best practices and documents and standards development in the area of nuclear safety and energy.
The official signing ceremony for the cooperation agreement between the IAEA and IEEE took place during the IAEA's General Conference in Vienna on 29 September.
The IAEA and IEEE have been working together since the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan to develop a nuclear energy series and safety guide on accident monitoring systems for nuclear power plants.
"In signing the agreement establishing practical arrangements for cooperation, IEEE and IAEA have established an official platform to reduce duplication and conflicts between IAEA guidelines and IEEE publications," the IEEE said. The two organizations will cooperate, it said, in the development of publications "to promote harmonization on topics of mutual interest". The agreement will initially run for three years.
Konstantinos Karachalios, managing director of IEEE Standards Association, said: "Safety is an overriding concern in the nuclear energy field, where standardization and document development tied to instrumentation and control systems, electrical equipment, computer processing systems, as well as human factors, all need to be addressed to protect both the public and those individuals working in the field."
He added, "IEEE's cooperative agreement with IAEA represents a very positive step forward in sharing best practices and bringing together the best minds to work collaboratively towards advancing nuclear safety and energy."
The IEEE - which describes itself as "the largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity" - noted this is the first time the IAEA has signed a practical arrangements agreement with an international standards development organization.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
