IAEA programme in the field of radiation technology

Due to recent developments, the Agency has restructured its programme and organized a Technical Meeting (TM) on “Emerging Applications of Radiation Technology for the 21st Century” at its Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, in April 2003, to review the present situation and possible developments of radiation technology to contribute to a sustainable development. This meeting provided the basic input to launch others in the most important fields of radiation technology applications: “Advances in Radiation Chemistry of Polymers” (Notre Dame, USA, September 2003), “Status of Industrial Scale Radiation Treatment of Wastewater” (Taejon, Republic of Korea, October 2003), “Radiation Processing of Polysaccharides” (Takasaki, Japan, November 2003), “Emerging Applications of Radiation in Nanotechnology” (Bologna, Italy, March 2004) and “Radiation Processing of Gaseous and Liquid Effluents” (Sofia, Bulgaria, September 2004). The Agency is presently supervising three Coordinated Research Projects on radiation wastewater treatment, radiation synthesis stimuli-responsive hydrogels for separation purposes and degradation effects of polymers. The role of this technology for a sustainable development is well illustrated by the fact that over 30 technical cooperation projects (including three regional ones) were accomplished in the years 2003-2004 and several new projects are being expected for the new cycle 2005-2006. Detailed analyses of the results of both, regular and TC programmes, laid the foundation for formulation of the new programme for the years 2006-2007. The emphasis will be put on nanotechnology, natural polymers, environment and health protection, including combat with hazardous bioagents.