Board of Governors International Atomic Energy Agency - EU Statement on Agenda item 4: Nuclear Security

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova, San Marino and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.

We thank the Secretariat for the Nuclear Security Report 2026, highlighting significant accomplishments over the past year.

Maintaining and strengthening effective and comprehensive nuclear security is a prerequisite for the responsible, safe and secure development of peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

Chair,

While the responsibility for nuclear security within a State rests entirely with that State, the EU underscores the central role of the IAEA in coordinating international cooperation and assistance upon request to develop robust national frameworks. Thus, we strongly encourage the universalisation and effective implementation of the main international legally binding instruments in the area of nuclear security - the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (A/CPPNM) and its Amendment, and the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT). We support the Secretariat's assisting role in this regard. We commend the Agency's efforts to prepare the second A/CPPNM Review Conference to be held next year. We urge all remaining States to join these international instruments.

We commend the important work of the Nuclear Security Guidance Committee (NSGC) and welcome the Agency's continued efforts to strengthen and further develop the Nuclear Security Series of publications.

We also, encourage the Secretariat to continue promoting international exchanges to develop, foster and maintain a robust nuclear security culture.

We support the Agency's ongoing efforts to strengthen its advisory services, which provide valuable expertise and peer advice to Member States.

Chair,

We reiterate the EU's unwavering support to the Agency's work at Ukraine's nuclear facilities including the ZNPP illegally seized by Russia. We are deeply concerned that Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine had continued to jeopardise nuclear security for almost five years, a critical point we will address in detail under the topic of 'Nuclear safety, security and safeguards in Ukraine.

We recall the importance of upholding the IAEA's seven pillars for ensuring nuclear safety and security in armed conflicts.

We encourage the Secretariat to continue collecting technical feedback and lessons learned on the challenges in applying Nuclear Security Series in an armed conflict situation.

Chair,

The EU welcomes the activities undertaken by the Agency to mitigate insider threats, notably its efforts regarding physical protection of radioactive sources. We encourage the Agency to continue providing technical assistance for major public events and detection of nuclear and other radioactive material out of regulatory control.

In light of expanding global interest in Small Modular Reactors and other new reactor designs, we emphasize the importance of nuclear security-by-design from the early stages of design. We support the ongoing work of a Nuclear Security Working Group within the Agency's Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI).

We also encourage the Agency to continue supporting Member States in the exploration of artificial intelligence applications to address benefits and challenges and help ensure their secure use in nuclear technologies. We welcome the convening of the CyberCon 2026. We look forward to the Agency's translating their outcomes into action implementation.

Chair,

The EU supports the activities of the Nuclear Security Training and Demonstration Centre (NSTDC) in Seibersdorf and the enhancement of its training offers that complement training capacities in Member States. In addition, a close cooperation between the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission and the IAEA resulting in a joint long-term training programme as well as training activities, complementary to those of the NSTDC, provided by national centres of excellence in EU Member States, contribute to enhancing nuclear security training globally.

We welcome the continued strengthening of the Agency's results-based management approach and support Agency's efforts to minimize duplication through considering the complementarity and timing of the issuance of various reports pertaining to nuclear security.

We also welcome the Agency's continuous efforts to promote gender equality, including by encouraging the participation of women in nuclear security trainings and relevant meetings, and call on the IAEA to continue providing these educational opportunities.

The IAEA's nuclear security activities require timely, sufficient, and reliable resources. We welcome further alignment of the Nuclear Security Fund (NSF) management with the Programme and Budget framework aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability. The EU and its Member States are among the largest contributors to the Nuclear Security Fund (NSF). Since 2003, the EU has allocated € 67 million to the NSF. Under the last EU Council Decision, the EU allocated €7.2 million for nuclear security capacity building worldwide, assistance to Ukraine, and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme. We call on all Member States to support the NSF to ensure progress and continuity of the Agency's work in nuclear security.

With these comments, the EU takes note of the Nuclear Security Report 2026, as contained in GOV/2026/41.

Thank you, Chair.