Welcome to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency

Australia accedes to the GIF Framework Agreement
On 14 September 2017, Australia deposited its instrument of accession to the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) Framework Agreement for International Collaboration on Research and Development of Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems. A ceremony was held at the OECD Château which included His Excellency Mr Brian Pontifex, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the OECD, and Dr Adrian (Adi) Paterson, CEO of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). The GIF is a co‑operative international endeavour which was established to carry out the research and development needed to establish the feasibility and performance capabilities of the next generation of nuclear energy systems. Australia became the 14^th member of the GIF on 22 June 2016 when it signed the GIF Charter. Acceding to the Framework Agreement will allow Australia to become actively engaged in R&D projects related to Generation IV systems, particularly in R&D projects on advanced materials. For more information on GIF, see www.gen-4.org.

Encouraging female scientists of the future
Encouraging female scientists of the future was the focus of the international mentoring workshop held on 25-26 July 2017 by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), in co‑operation with Japan's National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology (QST). The two‑day workshop took place in conjunction with QST's first International Symposium "Quantum Life Science" in Chiba, Japan. The primary participants in the workshop were 55 female high school students, accompanied by 16 teachers from various cities in Japan. The event provided the students with a rare opportunity to interact with seven highly accomplished female mentors to talk about their future careers in science and engineering. During the two-day workshop, the mentors exchanged their real‑life experiences and shared valuable advice and insight with the students. Discussions addressed the difficulties faced by women professionals in many parts of the world and the steps that can be taken to support young women who aspire to become science and technology professionals. Read more

Women who helped shape the history of nuclear science and technology
A little over a year ago, the NEA moved to a new building operated by the OECD in Boulogne‑Billancourt, located in the southern suburbs of Paris. The Boulogne building was built in 1927, originally as an industrial space long used to produce telephone control units, and had recently undergone renovations to transform the interior to an office space. Because the offices were both new and undecorated, the opportunity presented itself to be creative with the new NEA meeting rooms. NEA Director-General Mr William D. Magwood, IV, was thus inspired to give a personality to the seven meeting rooms and so initiated a staff survey to choose names for the rooms. The results of the survey ranged from elements of the periodic table to nuclear reactor components or to Star Trek characters, but the final decision was made to name the rooms after notable female scientists who had advanced knowledge in the nuclear field. Seven remarkable women, with exceptional careers but who have rarely been cast into the limelight, now grace the walls of NEA meeting rooms. Find out more in the latest issue of NEA News: oe.cd/NEA-35-1.