Organizational Meeting for the Eighth Review Conference of the Joint Convention under Swiss chairmanship

At the end of March, the Organizational Meeting for the forthcoming Review Conference of the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and of Radioactive Waste Management was held at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This year’s meeting also marked the end of the Swiss Chairmanship.

The Parties to the Joint Convention met from 25 to 28 March 2024 under the Swiss Chairmanship at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna: the fifth Extraordinary Meeting took place on 25 and 26 March and the Organizational Meeting for the upcoming Eighth Review Conference of the Joint Convention on 27 and 28 March.

The aim of the fifth extraordinary meeting was to optimise the review process. This was achieved in particular by improving the process for a more rigorous and standardised identification of good practices. The purpose of the organizational meeting was to prepare the content of the 8th Joint Convention Review Conference, which will take place in spring 2025.

The conclusion of the organizational meeting on 28 March 2024 also marked the end of Switzerland’s presidency under the chairmanship of former ENSI Director Hans Wanner. Hans Wanner was elected President of the Review Meeting for four years in 2020. During his term of office, he showed great commitment to constructive, open dialogue in a difficult political environment.

Hans Wanner on the Swiss presidency: «It was an honour and a privilege. I am convinced that we – Switzerland – have contributed to a transparent review of the country reports, to an open exchange of international best practices and to a further strengthening of the processes of the joint convention. »

The new President of the Review Conference is Mr Ramzi Jammal, Acting Director of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).

_{Image source: IAE Image Bank (Flickr)}