The IAEA this week designated the Moroccan Agency of Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security (AMSSNuR) as the first African IAEA Capacity Building Centre (CBC) for Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR), bringing the total of such centres worldwide to seven.
The designation of the centre was part of an agreement on cooperation for radiological EPR education, training, knowledge management and networking and human resource development, signed on May 21 in Vienna by IAEA Deputy Director General Juan Carlos Lentijo, Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, and Khammar Mrabit, Director General of the AMSSNuR.
“The IAEA appreciates the willingness of AMSSNuR to expand the IAEA’s network of CBCs for EPR,” said Mr Lentijo. “With this signing, we strengthen our cooperation to build EPR expertise in Africa.”
The Moroccan EPR CBC will organize, in collaboration with the IAEA, training workshops and other events to enable African countries to strengthen their national EPR capacities. The Centre will share knowledge on the IAEA safety standards and the IAEA’s series of EPR publications through lectures and practical demonstrations.
“The success of the IAEA School of Radiation Emergency Management, held in Rabat in November 2018 for 38 participants from African States was a catalyst for the establishment of this CBC,” said Mr Mrabit. “By offering a centre for EPR activities in terms of training, sharing of knowledge and experience in the fields of nuclear and radiological safety and security, the Kingdom of Morocco is demonstrating its willingness to continuously assist in building and strengthening EPR capabilities in the Africa region.”
The other IAEA CBCs for EPR are located in Austria, China, Japan (Chiba Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture), Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.
