Statement of H.E. Ambassador Armen Papikyan at the meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors

24 November, 2021

Mr Chair,

First of all, allow me to congratulate you on your election as the Chair of the Board and to assure you of Armenia’s full support and cooperation.

Armenia thanks Director General Grossi for his Report on the Agency’s proposed Technical Cooperation Programme for 2022-23, as contained in document GOV/2021/45 and its two Addendums. We also thank Deputy Director General Hua Liu and the Secretariat for the technical briefing and presentations. Equally, we equally wish to thank Ms. Felicia Wong of Singapore for her efforts as the rapporteur of the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee.

Armenia highly values the Technical Cooperation Program of the Agency as a key vehicle within its statutory function of promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and transfer of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes to help states in achieving their national development priorities and goals. Therefore, we underscore the importance of ensuring sufficient and predictable funding for the Agency’s TC activities keeping in mind the increased demands from member states. In this regard, Armenia commends the Agency’s efforts in strengthening partnerships and resource mobilization to generate additional resources for the TC programme. Armenia pays its assessed contribution in full and in time and would appreciate a similar approach from all member states to ensure the sustainability of the TCP.

Mr. Chair,

Armenia attaches high priority to maintaining and strengthening its nuclear safety and security regime, which, in fact, is in line with the Europe’s priority area as reflected in the Report’s TC Fields of Activity. In this context we are glad that the Agency’s proposed and ongoing technical cooperation projects for Armenia continue to have a strong bearing on enhancing nuclear safety for the extended design operation lifetime of the ANPP. In order to achieve the mentioned objective and to enhance the sustainable use of nuclear science and technology for peaceful purposes, the human resource development remains an important endeavor for Armenia. We would like to thank the Agency for its continued support in this regard.

It is our conviction that the knowledge and expertise gained by Armenia throughout the implementation of different projects in the field of nuclear safety and security, including in building capacities for severe accident management and analyses of off-site consequences, which is critical in terms of protecting people and environment against the harmful effects of ionizing radiation, could be of added value for countries with comparable operational capacities and experience. Against this backdrop, we are happy to mention that our experts are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with the interested countries՛ institutions, thus bringing their contribution to the Agency’s activities in this area.

Mr. Chair,

The role of nuclear power in global climate change mitigation and clean energy transition, with the supply of one-third of all low-carbon electricity by the currently operating nuclear power reactors, is difficult to underestimate. In this context, taking this opportunity, Armenia would like to commend Director General Grossi for his efforts to bring the contribution of nuclear to the global debate on climate change mitigation at the COP26 in Glasgow. We share the assessment that the nuclear technologies should be given due consideration to help mitigate climate change and achieve net zero emissions.

Thank you, Mr Chair.

MFA RA
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