Statement by Permanent Representative Andranik Hovhannisyan at the Meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors

08 June, 2026

Delegation of the Republic of Armenia

IAEA Board of Governors

Statement under agenda item 3: The Annual Report for 2025

Vienna, 08-12 June 2026

Mr. Chair,

Armenia thanks the Director General and the Secretariat for the preparation of the Annual Report for 2025 and appreciates the comprehensive and illustrative overview of the Agency’s activities.

The report demonstrates the increasingly important role of the IAEA in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges facing the international community: energy security, climate change, food security, public health, environmental protection, and sustainable development. We welcome the Agency’s expanding support to Member States through its flagship initiatives in these areas and as a host and upcoming presidency of the 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP17), convening this October in Yerevan, we look forward to working closely with the Agency to promote innovative scientific solutions for the protection and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Mr. Chair,

Armenia takes note of the Agency’s upward revision of its annual projections for potential growth of nuclear power for the fifth year in a row and acknowledges the Agency’s assessment that realizing these projections will require extensive long-term operation across the existing fleet. This precisely aligns with the national priorities of the Republic of Armenia, currently implementing the necessary measures to extend the lifetime of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant and advancing efforts towards its new nuclear power programme.

In this context, IAEA support provided to countries, through the Milestones approach, energy planning tools, peer reviews and the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative for advanced and small modular reactors, is critical.

We believe that the Agency should continue allocating equal attention and resources to the existing fleet as it does to new potential projects. IAEA’s important role in this endeavor is well formulated in the following quote by the Director of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant highlighted in the report: ՛՛We greatly value the Agency’s support for continuous improvement in nuclear power plant operations. This collaborative approach enables us to access practical, experience based insights efficiently and with minimal burden, helping us strengthen our operational practices and develop strategies that are aligned with the needs and realities of long term operation՛՛.

With such an approach and emphasizing the critical importance of continued improvements in nuclear safety, in 2025 alone, Armenia hosted several important Agency review missions, including a Safety Aspects of Long Term Operation (SALTO) mission, two Site and External Events Design (SEED) missions, and a Technical Safety Review mission focused on safety requirements.

Mr. Chair,

Armenia also wishes to highlight and commend the Agency’s growing role in supporting Member States in the areas of nuclear safety, nuclear security, and emergency preparedness and response in an increasingly complex international security environment. Recent years have demonstrated that geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, and other sources of instability can pose unprecedented challenges to the safety and security of nuclear facilities and radioactive materials. In this context, the Agency has assumed an indispensable role in helping Member States to ensure that nuclear safety and security remain protected under all circumstances. Armenia appreciates the leadership of the Director General and the Secretariat in addressing these challenges and reaffirms the importance of preserving the Agency’s technical, objective, and non-political character in carrying out these critical responsibilities.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

MFA RA
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