DDG-TC’s Official Visit to Argentina, November/December 2017. Photo: CNEA. Bariloche, Argentina, 29 November 2017.
Mr Dazhu Yang (IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation) made an official visit to Argentina from 27 November to<br>1 December 2017. He visited a number of laboratories, scientific research centres, and resource institutions collaborating with the IAEA to deliver technical cooperation (TC) programme projects.
Mr Yang and Mr. Raúl Ramírez (Head – Latin America Section 1, IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation) met officials from the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and the Ministry of Energy and Mining. The CNEA is the IAEA’s principal partner in Argentina. Counterparts provided an overview of the seven national and 32 regional/interregional ongoing TC projects in the country.
Mr Yang tests hot cell controls designated for training purposes at the CNEA’s Ezeiza Atomic Center. The Center is a leading producer of radioisotopes for medical use.
Mr Yang and Mr Juan Carlos Funari (CNEA Head of Nuclear Applications) and other members of the CNEA Ezeiza Atomic Center team.
While touring the Atucha Nuclear Power Plant, Mr Yang visited the Emergency Center. Here, a radiation protection official explains the plant’s safety protocols.
The IAEA delegation toured the headquarters of INVAP S.E., a company specializing in the design and construction of research reactors, nuclear fuel fabrication facilities, radioisotope production plants, and nucleonic instrumentation. Mr Eduardo Villarino (Head of Nuclear Engineering, INVAP S.E.) demonstrated technologies used to produce fuel for nuclear research reactors.
During his visit, Mr Yang met with Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen (Undersecretary of Foreign Policy) to discuss the IAEA’s work in the country and region.
At a build site in Lima, Mr Osvaldo Calzetta (President, CNEA) details progress on construction of CAREM-25, a prototype modular reactor for electrical power generation. CAREM is a domestically-designed and developed 25 MWe small pressurized water reactor. Its entire primary coolant system is contained within the single self-pressurized vessel and uses free convection to circulate the coolant.
Mr Yang also visited the construction site of the CNEA’s Research Reactor RA-10. When completed, this reactor will support national production of radiopharmaceuticals and facilitate research for medical, agricultural, and environmental applications.
The IAEA delegation attended a working meeting with the National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (SENASA). To protect and expand horticultural production in Argentina, the IAEA and SENASA are collaborating on a project to strengthen fruit fly surveillance and control measures using the sterile insect technique (SIT).
The following day, the IAEA delegation visited Argentina’s first laboratory for SIT implementation in mosquitos, in Buenos Aires. The insects are mass-reared and then sterilized using radiation, before the systematic area-wide release of sterile males by air over defined areas. These males then mate with wild females, resulting in no offspring and a declining pest population.
Mr Yang met with Mr Diego Passadore (General Manager) and team at the Nuclear Diagnostics Centre Foundation (FCDN) in Buenos Aires. The FCDN provides advanced cancer detection and therapy services.
Mr Yang with Mr Carlos Gho (CNEA Director of Nuclear Energy) and the operations team at the RA6 Research Reactor in Bariloche.
Mr Yang in conversation with Mr Luis Rovere (Manager - Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy Centre, Bariloche Atomic Center). In addition to diagnostics and patient care, the Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy Center provides human resource training in nuclear applications.
While in Argentina, Mr Yang and Mr Ramírez met Mr René Mauricio Valdés (UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative) and Ms Maureen Birmingham (WHO/PAHO Representative). The UN System in Argentina is composed of 17 agencies, funds and programmes, of which eight are non-resident agencies. Meeting participants charted progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with Argentina’s national development priorities, and identified specific opportunities for synergies to increase the potential impact of their cooperation programmes.
Special thanks to: National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA), Ministry of Energy and Mining, National Agrifood Health and Quality Service (SENASA), INVAP S.E.
Photos from the field provided by: CNEA
Captions & arrangement: André Ghione, IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation
?2018 IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation
