The 18th FNCA Ministerial Level Meeting (MLM) was held at Radisson Hotel, Astana, Kazakhstan on October 11, 2017. The meeting was organized by the Cabinet Office of Japan (CAO), the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), and the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Ministerial level representatives (including one minister, one vice minister, directors of the nuclear administrative agencies, etc.) from eleven member countries (Republic of Korea was absent) attendedthe meeting and held policy discussions under the theme "Application of Nuclear Science and Technology for Protection of Environment". The meeting concluded with the adoption of a joint communique mentioningactions to take such as "themes and activities to be promoted" and "assistance and cooperation for addressing issues of protection of environment" .The meeting was covered by as many astenKazakhstan's domestic media corporations including TV stations, which shows Kazakhstan's strong interest in FNCA activities. (Program)(Participants List)

Mr Bozumbayev, Minister of Energy

Mr Bozumbayev (left) and Dr Oka (right)

(1) Welcome Remarks
Mr Kanat Bozumbayev, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Dr Yoshiaki Oka, Chairman of JAEC, delivered the welcome remarks, respectively. Mr Bozumbayev expressed his country's intention to continuously promote their active international contribution to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, giving such examples as the EXPO2017 Astana, the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bankwhich was inauguratedin August, 2017, etc. Dr. Oka referred tothe FNCA's remarkable achievements in all important areas concerning the peaceful use of nuclear energy since its foundation in 2000. He also mentioned that Japan would make further contributions, etc. to enhancing nuclear safety through the sharing of valuable lessons learned from the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPP Accident with the international society.

(2) Keynote Speech
Prof Erlan Batyrbekov, Director General of National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan, introduced their efforts for nuclear technology applications for environmental protectionin Kazakhstan. Mr. Galymzhan Pirmatov, Chairman of the Management Board of NAC Kazatomprom JSC,described the operation and purpose of the IAEA LEU Bank established in Kazakhstan under the agreement with the IAEA.

He emphasized the importance of the IAEA LEU Bank, mentioning that the member states of the IAEA are eligible to procureLEU from the bank and that securing a stable LEU supply system would significantly contribute to non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Prof Batyrbekov, DG of the NNC

(3) Country Reports
Representatives of the FNCA member countries gave presentations about the progress in nuclear energy policies and initiatives in their respective countries under the theme "Applications of Nuclear Science and Technologyfor Protection of Environment", etc. Mr Hideo Shindo, Deputy Director General for Science, Technology and Innovation of CAO, introducedthe "Basic Policy for Nuclear Energy", which was drawn up for the first time in twelve years since 2005 when the "Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy" was approved by the cabinet. He also explainedefforts for environmental improvementin Japanafter the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPP Accident.

(4) Roundtable Discussions
Discussions were made under the theme "Applications of Nuclear Science and Technologyfor Protection of Environment." In considering various problems that each country is facing as can be seen in the country reports, leading speeches on "land contamination", "air pollution" and "climate change" were given respectively from Kazakhstan, the Philippines, and Australia. Furthermore, to address those challenges, acknowledging effectiveness of both FNCA project activities and cooperation with international organizations, the member countriesagreed to include an article, related to further enhancement of cooperation, to the joint communique.

(5) Introduction of FNCA Awards
FNCA awards were introduced for the first time. For this year, one country was selected for the "Best Research Team of the Year" while four others for the "Excellent Research Team of the Year". It was agreed that the FNCA would encourage future project activities, and the results would be shared among the member countries. The "Best Research Team of the Year" was awarded to Australia's "Research Reactor Network" teamwhile the "Excellent Research Teams of the Year" were awarded toBangladesh's "Radiation Oncology" team, Malaysia's "Mutation Breeding" team and "Human Resources Development" team, and the Philippines' "Electron Accelerator Application" team, respectively. The fact that this year's awards all went to the projects covering medicine, industry, and agriculture shows that nuclear technologies are applied to various fields and essential to our modern life.

Mr Druce, Project Leader of Research Reactor Network for Australia at Award Ceremony

(6) Reports on the FNCA Management and Activities
Mr Tomoaki Wada, FNCA Coordinator of Japan, gave a presentation on the "Overview and Progressof FNCA Projects", followed by a presentationbythe FNCA SOM secretariat regarding the "Study Panel Activities". The secretariat also gave a presentation about the final draft of "FNCA Terms of Reference", which was approved and confirmed by the ministerial level members, and officially adopted.

Summary of the Joint Communique (Full Text (PDF206KB))

• Further accelerating FNCA's activities related to the application of nuclear science and technology, actively endorsing the existing projects such as "Mutation Breeding", "Radiation Oncology" and "Research on Climate Change", and also possible future projects such as nuclear safety and security culture which will lead to sustainable development in each member country.
• Continuing to promote cooperation with relevant international organizations, including the IAEA and the OECD/NEA, particularly in the field of legal frameworks.
• Initiating mechanisms which include upgrading the FNCA website in an effort to enhance its knowledge-sharing and public relations function.
• Encouraging member countries to strengthen cooperation for addressing issues covered during the Roundtable Discussion with a focus on the protection of environment, such as harmonizing related regulations, and through cooperative arrangements with the on-going activities or the ones newly set up on demand in the future. Also encouraging the member countries to promote technologies tackling with environment pollution directly, in addition to the technology of monitoring

Session II, Preliminary Discussion on Roundtable Theme (50 min.)

Mr Steven McINTOSH
Senior Manager,
Government and International Affairs,
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

Mr Mark ALEXANDER
International Affairs Manager,
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

Mr Michael DRUCE
Principal Technical Officer,
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

Dr Hendig WINARNO
Deputy Chairman of BATAN for Nuclear Technology Utilization,
National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN)

Mr Sutrasno
Head of Technical Cooperation Division,
Bureau for Legal, Public Relation and Cooperation,
National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN)

Mr Kanat BOZUMBAYEV
Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Mr BakhytzhanJAXALIYEV
Vice-Minister of Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Prof Erlan BATYRBEKOV
Director General,
National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Dr Sergey LUKASHENKO
Deputy Director,
National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC RK)

Mr Galymzhan PIRMATOV
Chairman of the Management Board,
NAC Kazatomprom JSC

Dr Baurzhan IBRAYEV
Chief Director for Production,
NAC Kazatomprom JSC

Mr Batyrzhan KARAKOZOV
Department for Atomic and Energy Projects Development,
Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Dr Maira MUKUSHEVA
Director of Division in Astana,
National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NNC RK)

Ms Rysken MUKHAMETZHAROVA
Deputy Director,
Department of Atomic Energy and Industry,
Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Mr Gani MADI
Head of Atomic Energy Division,
Department of Atomic Energy and Industry,
Ministry of Energy of the Republic

Ms G. ZHUBANAZAROVA
Head of Atomic Energy Projects Development Division,
Department of Atomic Energy and Industry,
Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Ms Natalya ZHDANOVA
Executive Director,
Association “Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan", NNC Secretariat

Dr. Dahlan Bin HJ MOHD
Deputy Director General (R&D),
Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia)

Dr Abdul Muin Bin ABDUL RAHMAN
Deputy Director General (Tecnical),
Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuclear Malaysia)

Mr MANLAIJAV Gunaajav
Secretary of the Nuclear Energy Commission and Head of the Executive Office,
Executive Office of the Nuclear Energy Commission (NEC) of the Government of Mongolia

Mr CHADRAABAL Mavag
Head,
Nuclear Technology Department,
Executive Office,
Nuclear Energy Commission of the Government of Mongolia (NEC)

Dr Carlo A. ARCILLA
Director,
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI)

Dr Lucille V. ABAD
Supervising Science Research Specialist,
Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI)

Dr Pornthep NISAMANEEPHONG
Executive Director,
Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (Public Organization)

Ms Kanchalika DECHATES
Head of International Cooperation Section,
Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (Public Organization))

Ms HA Thi Lam Hong
Deputy Director General,
Department of International Cooperation
Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)

Dr TRAN Ngoc Toan
Vice President,
Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM)

Ms NGUYEN Mai Trinh
Officer,
Department of International Cooperations,
Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM)

Mr David CLEAVE
Executive Director
The International Science and Technology Center

Mr Akira NAKANISHI
The International Science and Technology Center

Dr Yoshiaki OKA
Chairman,
Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC)

Mr Hideo SHINDO
Deputy Director General for Science, Technology and Innovation
Cabinet Office, Japan (CAO)

Mr Hideo KAWABUCHI
Counsellor for Atomic Energy,
Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC)

Mr Koichi YOSHIDA
Senior Researcher,
Office of Atomic Energy Policy,
Secretariat of the Atomic Energy Commission,
Cabinet Office (CAO), Japan

Dr Yuichi MICHIKAWA
Deputy Director,
International Nuclear and Fusion Affairs Division,
Research and Development Bureau,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Mr Shoji KASUGA
Researcher,
International Nuclear Cooperation Division,
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Mr Tomoaki WADA
FNCA Coordinator of Japan

Dr Hideki NAMBA
FNCA Advisor of Japan

Australia (PDF2.8MB)
Bangladesh (PDF2.2MB)
China (PDF638KB)
Indonesia (PDF2.2MB)
Japan (PDF1.5MB)
Kazakhstan (PDF3.3MB)
Malaysia (PDF1.2MB)
Mongolia (PDF3.0MB)
The Philippines (PDF4.5MB)
Thailand (PDF625KB)
Vietnam (PDF643KB)