IAEA Board of Governors
Agenda Item 2: Nuclear and radiation safety: Nuclear Safety Review 2026
2 March 2026
Statement by Mr Denis Cairney, Alternate Resident Representative of Australia to the IAEA
Thank you, Chair.
Australia welcomes the Director General’s Nuclear Safety Review 2026.
Chair,
Australia recognises and acknowledges the IAEA’s nuclear safety priorities and congratulates the IAEA on its ongoing efforts to build on the existing radiation and nuclear safety frameworks through its ongoing reviews and continued revisions of existing standards.
Australia continues to uphold and promote the IAEA’s safety priorities, and has taken constructive, collaborative and cooperative action where Australia has worked to support the development of stronger radiation and nuclear safety standards and practices.
Over the past year, an IAEA expert mission to Australia was completed, Australia proudly hosted the IAEA Regulatory Infrastructure Development Program (RIDP) School on Nuclear and Radiological Leadership for Safety and for Nuclear Security in Sydney which welcomed early-to mid-career professionals from regulatory bodies and related organisations in the region, and we continued our engagement in IAEA projects to support the ongoing safe use of radiation in the Pacific.
Australia was also host to a Regional Workshop on Safe Transport of Radioactive Material in Sydney, which helped support compliance with the Transport Regulations and promoted the use of the draft fifth edition of Safe Transport of Radioactive Material.
Chair,
Australia continues to implement its broader commitment to assisting Member States in our region in developing a strong safety culture and appropriate regulatory frameworks through the RIDP, including through our in-kind and extrabudgetary contributions towards the Asia-Pacific. Australia will continue to support the IAEA to develop and build capacity in Member States to ensure high standards of nuclear safety can be upheld, especially in regions where additional resources and ongoing support are required.
Chair,
Australia continues to be gravely concerned at the risks to nuclear safety and security created by Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Australia commends the IAEA’s leadership and ongoing activities in Ukraine including the Agency’s regular communication and information sharing regarding the challenging situation, and echoes global sentiment calling on Russia to immediately end its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Chair,
Australia welcomes the IAEA’s ongoing work to revise and update standards relating to nuclear safety, and recognises the importance of continuing to monitor emerging nuclear safety challenges. Australia remains fully committed to strengthening our uniformity and domestic safety standards in line with this work.
Chair,
Australia commends the Agency’s efforts to assist Member States to strengthen leadership and management capabilities, including in fostering and sustaining a strong nuclear safety culture. Australia will join other Contracting Parties in attending the Convention on Nuclear Safety Review Meeting in April this year, to strengthen implementation of the Convention through its peer review process, and to champion our shared interest in developing and promoting higher levels of nuclear safety.
Finally Chair,
Australia continues to support the critical role of the IAEA in relation to the ongoing discharge of ALPS-treated water by Japan from Fukushima and has full confidence in its independent, impartial, and science-based technical advice. Japan’s transparency in providing discharge records and seawater monitoring results and the IAEA’s subsequent independent corroboration of these results is both commendable and reassuring. We continue to welcome Japan’s and the IAEA’s transparency and international engagement and their long-term commitment to ongoing monitoring until the discharge is complete.
With these comments, Australia is pleased to take note of the Nuclear Safety Review 2026.
Thank you.