IAEA Hosts 500 Experts in Vienna for Nuclear Transport Safety Conference

Nearly 500 experts and decision makers converged on IAEA Headquarters in Vienna today as Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi opened the International Conference on the Safe and Secure Transport of Nuclear and Radioactive Material at 10:00 CET, kicking off a five-day program running through 27 March 2026.

The gathering brought together policy makers, regulatory bodies, government officials, operators, designers and manufacturers, NGOs, and academic institutions to work through developments, challenges, and opportunities in nuclear transport safety. The agenda centered on two core areas: the legislative and regulatory framework governing shipments of nuclear and other radioactive material, and safety and security by design across transport operations. A significant portion of the discussions focused on aligning national legal and regulatory systems with IAEA safety standards and international guidance, a persistent friction point as member states maintain divergent domestic frameworks.

The scale of the problem the conference is designed to address is significant. According to the IAEA, millions of shipments of nuclear and radioactive material move around the world every year, supporting sectors from medical diagnostics and low-carbon energy generation to agriculture, waste reprocessing, and industrial applications. The agency also noted that a robust international framework backed by consistent safety practices and regional cooperation has meant that, over the past 60 years, no significant radiological hazards have resulted from transport-related incidents.

Media access to the conference is broad but not unlimited. Open sessions are available to journalists, while technical sessions on transport security and a scenario-based policy discussion are designated closed meetings. A side event on the IAEA's Incident and Trafficking Database, the ITDB, took place at 13:00 in room M3 on the first floor of the M Building on the opening day and was open to press. Live video streams of panel and technical sessions in the M Plenary and M2 meeting rooms are available throughout the conference, and the IAEA is posting photos to its Flickr account. Journalists seeking speaker interviews can submit detailed requests to the IAEA Press Office.

The conference had also been accepting contributions ahead of the event, with a synopsis submission deadline that was extended to 30 September 2025 to give additional contributors time to propose papers. The full programme, speaker line-up, and room locations are accessible through the IAEA's website.