U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Vienna
Vienna, Austria
September 25, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
U.S. Support for nuclear technologies improves and saves lives around the world
As a founding Member State and strong supporter of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United States contributes millions of dollars each year to support the IAEA’s work to promote the safe, secure, and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.
The United States funds this work through regular budgetary contributions to the IAEA and also through extra-budgetary contributions to support specific initiatives. Since 2010, the United States has provided more than a third of a billion dollars in voluntary contributions to the IAEA to promote peaceful nuclear activities, including $117 million through allocations to the IAEA’s Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI) for activities designed to improve the lives of people around the world using nuclear technologies.
Examples of such IAEA projects that received U.S. funding in 2020 include:
AFRICA
- The IAEA will help Egypt enhance radiation therapy for cancer patients through the provision of a medical linear accelerator, or “LINAC,” made possible by a $1.5 million allocation from the United States. LINACs use electricity, rather than a radioactive source, to generate high energy beams of X-rays or electrons that can be used in treating cancer.
- The United-States provided over $714,000 to the IAEA to improve livestock productivity in West Africa through the creation of sustainable tsetse-free zones. This IAEA Insect and Pest Control project is aimed at eradicating the population of tsetse flies in Senegal carrying the Trypanosomiasis disease (African sleeping sickness) using a nuclear technology called the Sterile Insect Technique.
- The United States allocated $200,000 for an IAEA project to enhance radiotherapy services in Libya. This project will increase access to sustainable cancer treatment services and assist Libya in improving its cancer management program by restoring and upgrading the existing radiotherapy facilities.
- The IAEA will assist Member States in Africa by developing and implementing regional training activities related to nuclear law, including online and offline platforms. This project received a $150,000 allocation from the United States.
- With a $50,000 contribution from the United States, IAEA will provide Member States in Africa with small equipment, such as survey meters and personal electronic dosimeters, needed for the safe transport of radioactive materials used for peaceful purposes.
ASIA/PACIFIC
- The United States allocated $100,000 to help IAEA Member States in the Asia Pacific region enhance food safety, security, and trade, funding workshops and meetings in the region to promote techniques that destroy disease-causing bacteria and reduce the risk of food borne illnesses.
- Funding from the United States will assist the IAEA to establish and enhance national nuclear legal frameworks in Asia/Pacific countries. With its $100,000 allocation from the United States, the IAEA will expand its online training program and awareness-raising activities on nuclear law, including online training courses, webinars, and targeted law modules.
LATIN AMERICA
- The IAEA will assist Mexico in improving cancer management through the provision of a “LINAC” medical linear accelerator, made possible by a $1.3 million allocation from the United States. The project will help improve radiation oncology and strengthen medical professionals’ knowledge of nuclear medicine techniques like radiotherapy.
- The United States provided $800,000 to two projects that the IAEA runs throughout Latin America to improve nuclear safety by providing training, supporting national nuclear safety regulatory bodies, and strengthening Member States’ radiation safety infrastructure.
- With a $545,000 allocation from the United States, the IAEA will assist Argentina to implement industrial and environmental applications that use electron beam technology. These applications include material modification, wastewater and stack gas management, tissue engineering, sterilization, and other biological applications.
GLOBAL
- In 83 countries this year, U.S. financial support for the IAEA was used to purchase diagnostic and lifesaving protective equipment to help address the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States was among the first countries to respond to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s announcement in March 2020 that Member States requested IAEA support in combatting the COVID-19 outbreak, and the United States has allocated a total of $11 million to this initiative. To-date, over 120 countries received IAEA assistance in battling COVID-19.
- This month, at the IAEA’s 64th General Conference in Vienna, the United States announced a $1.9 million donation to the IAEA Network of Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratories (VETLAB) projects. VETLAB assists laboratories in Member States to improve their technical capabilities for diagnosis and prevention of animal and zoonotic diseases, such as African Swine Fever, bird flu (H5N1), COVID-19, and Ebola.
- The United States provided $500,000 of funding for the IAEA’s Zoonotic Disease Integrated Action (ZODIAC) initiative to help countries prevent pandemics caused by bacteria, parasites, fungi or viruses that originate in animals and can be transmitted to humans. The ZODIAC project builds on the successes of the IAEA’s efforts to support Member States fighting COVID-19.
Funding for these projects is provided by the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation.
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Please direct any inquiries to UNVIEpress@state.gov.
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