The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is organizing the third International Conference on Nuclear Security: Sustaining and Strengthening Efforts (ICONS 2020) — at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 10 to 14 February 2020.
The Conference will feature:
- A ministerial segment during which ministers will deliver national statements and adopt a Ministerial Declaration; and
- A scientific and technical programme comprising high-level policy discussions on the overall themes central to nuclear security and parallel technical sessions on related specialized scientific and technical, legal and regulatory issues.
The previous conference, held in 2016, attracted over 2000 participants, including 47 government ministers, from 139 Member States and 29 intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.
Purpose and Objectives
The conference will provide a forum for ministers, policymakers, senior officials and nuclear security experts to formulate and exchange views on experiences and achievements, current approaches, future directions and priorities for nuclear security.
The conference will:
- Raise awareness to maintain and further strengthen national nuclear security regimes as well as international cooperation in strengthening nuclear security globally;
- Review the current status of nuclear security efforts, existing approaches and trends, and highlight areas that may need more focused attention including technological dimensions;
- Promote IAEA nuclear security guidance and other international guidelines, and their use by States;
- Promote the sharing of information and good practices in nuclear security whilst protecting sensitive information;
- Reaffirm and support the central role of the IAEA in strengthening the nuclear security framework globally and in leading the coordination of international activities in the field of nuclear security, whilst avoiding duplication and overlap;
- Highlight and promote the IAEA’s efforts and programmes on the nuclear security relevant instruments of the IAEA and the United Nations; and
- Discuss further enhancements of IAEA nuclear security activities and their sustainability.
Participants are encouraged not to discuss any sensitive nuclear security information.
Submission of Synopses
Anyone wishing to present a paper at the conference — either orally or in the form of a poster — must submit a synopsis of between 400 and 800 words in electronic format through the "Call for Abstracts" page linked on your left. Paper copies cannot be accepted. Please refer to the updated guidelines on this process, linked at the bottom of this page.There is also a video tutorial explaining how to upload your synopsis.
Please refer to the Announcement for a full list of technical topic areas for the submissions.
Key Deadlines and Dates
- 1 February 2019: Opening of synopsis submission through IAEA-INDICO
- 31 May 2019: Electronic submission of synopsis through IAEA-INDICO
- 14 June 2019: Submission of Form for Submission of a Paper (Form B) (together with Form A) through the competent national authority
- 14 June 2019: Submission of Grant Application Form (Form C) together with Participation Form (Form A) through the competent national authority
- 30 September 2019: Notification of acceptance of synopsis
- 29 November 2019: Electronic submission of full papers (10 pages maximum)
- 20 December 2019: Submission of oral presentations, interactive content presentations and posters
