NATIONAL STATEMENT

BY

GERMANY

DELIVERED BY: CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRES A.I. KARIN FOISTNER

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY

Vienna, March 2021

AGENDA ITEM 5: Nuclear Technology Review 2021

- as delivered –

Madam Chair,

1. Germany aligns itself with the statement delivered by Portugal on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. Please allow me to add some remarks in my national capacity.

2. Let me start by thanking the Director General for his report contained in document GOV/2020/02 on the “Nuclear Technology Review 2021”.

3. As in previous years the Executive Summary offers an excellent overview regarding the latest developments in the complex areas of Nuclear Energy and Technology worldwide.

Madame Chair,

4. I would like to highlight some key activities in Germany in the context of Nuclear Technology over the past year and offer some perspectives.

5. In August 2020, the Federal Cabinet of Ministers agreed upon the Strategy for Competence Building and the Development of Future Talent in the field of Nuclear Safety. With this concept the German Government has set the path to preserve and further develop knowledge and experience in the field of nuclear safety, collected over decades of research and practical applications, for future generations. This inter alia acknowledges the importance of and interest in international scientific nuclear safety cooperation.

6. This year, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy published its new funding programme for research in nuclear safety for the years 2021–2025. With this programme the Ministry laid down its research priorities in the fields of reactor safety, interim storage and treatment of high-level waste, repository research and horizontal issues such as socio-technical research or safeguards.

7. After the necessary supply of fuel elements, the research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (acronym FRM II) at the Technical University in Munich has gone into operation again in January 2020. The FRM II is a cornerstone in the areas of basic research, material testing and nuclear medicine by providing neutrons for science, industry and medicine.

8. Also in 2020, the German Government decided to finance the Helmholtz Research and Technology Platform for the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities and for the Management of Radioactive Waste (HOVER). This large and important investment strengthens and modernizes the German research infrastructure.

9. Last but not least, we supported the new project for renovation of the analytical laboratories, ReNuAL2, with 600,000 Euro, and by this the Agency’s activities to support nuclear applications in food and agriculture, human health and radiation technology.

Thank you, Madam Chair.