Regional Meeting on Institutional Innovation and Partnership Building in the Nuclear Sector

Application Deadline for Nominee(s) of Invited IAEA Member States: 31 May 2019

Background

This regional meeting will be held in the framework of the IAEA technical cooperation programme for the region of Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen the application of the peaceful uses of nuclear technology by supporting human resources development and selected strategic initiatives required to increase the socio-economic impact of the TC programme in the region.

National Nuclear Institutions (NNIs) and Laboratories of the region are seeking for new and innovative approaches to enlarge their impact and increase the sustainability of their operations. In order to achieve greater control and flexibility with regard to programming and funding, a shift in management strategies will aim at achieving operational excellence through cooperation and strategic planning, producing services that are valuable to society and the market, as well as achieving and sustaining political support through highlighting the market value as well as the public value of the nuclear sector. In some countries of the region, nuclear institutions have already built new and unique networks and interactions and generated substantial revenues from services they sell to the private sector. The governments in the region expect the NNIs to keep moving into new areas while transforming mature technologies to industry and serving society to adapt to evolving needs.
NNIs can become more self-reliant by attracting revenue from new sources through not only marketing services, but also securing grants from government or other funding authorities based on the unique capabilities of NNIs and the public value generated through the services provided by these institutions. Crucial for the sustainability of NNIs, a shift from a focus on pure research to needs-based prioritization and stronger management of nuclear applications is required, especially considering a dynamic political and socio-economic environment.

Expected Outcome(s)

The expected outcome of this regional meeting will be a deeper insight and stronger cooperation in enhancing the strategic management practices and approaches in the NNIs and related institutions.

Interactive sessions will be held on the following topics:

• Linking with Government
• Work for Others
• Conduct of Operations
• Environmental Issues
• Human Resource Issues
• Outreach and Connections to Communities
• Peer Review and Assuring Quality of Programs
• Strategic Planning, Planning for the Future
• Connections with Industry
• Investing in Programs, Laboratory Directed Research and Development
• Relevance of radiation Protection and Safety
• Effective ways to translate laboratory research programs into services
• The challenges to remaining relevant and sustainable

Scope and Nature

The regional meeting will provide a forum for the exchange of experiences and best practices among NNIs on the strategic management of NNIs and other relevant institutions. Presentations will be held on a variety of issues in managing the laboratories, such as successful research and development of programs and the sustainability of nuclear research centres through relevant service-oriented activities. Two DOE laboratories will be featured, the Idaho National Laboratory which is the principal laboratory for nuclear reactor and technology research, and Argonne National Laboratory, which is one of the largest national laboratories for scientific and engineering research, leading discovery and powering innovation in a wide range of core scientific capabilities.