Wednesday, 25 February 2026
Time: 12:00 – 13:00, Vienna (Austria) time
Duration: 1 hour 

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In May 2024, the IAEA convened the International Conference on Nuclear Security: Shaping the Future (ICONS 2024). It was the fourth quadrennial ministerial conference on nuclear security convened by the Agency, following conferences held in July 2013, December 2016 and February 2020.

The conference attracted over 2000 registered participants, including 49 ministers, deputy ministers and other high ranking officials, underscoring the importance of ICONS as the largest and foremost global forum for nuclear security practitioners. The conference also demonstrated widespread recognition among members of the international community that nuclear security is a topic that requires continued attention, discussion and international dialogue. Conference panellists and participants consistently emphasized the need for the Agency to continue organizing periodic international workshops, and meetings and forums, such as ICONS, in order to share best practices and foster continued and meaningful international cooperation.

Building on the discussions held at ICONS 2024, in June 2025, the IAEA launched a webinar series titled ‘Nuclear Security – Looking Beyond ICONS 2024’. Individual webinars will be planned on a variety of topics related to the core themes of ICONS 2024: policy, law and regulations for nuclear security; technology and infrastructure for nuclear security prevention, detection and response; capacity building for nuclear security; and cross-cutting nuclear security topics.

Previous webinars in the series include:

• ‘Looking Back and Looking Forward, Shaping Nuclear Security through ICONS’,
• ‘Computer security: what’s next for this cross-cutting area of nuclear security’,
• ‘Nuclear Security and Small Modular Reactors’,
• ‘Strengthening Tomorrow’s Nuclear Security Workforce’,
• ‘Using Nuclear Forensics to Improve Nuclear Security’,
• ‘Shaping the Future: A Conversation with the ICONS 2024 Delegation for the Future’, and
• ‘From Here to There: Security During Transport of Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material’.

The eighth webinar is on ‘Securing Moments that Matter: Nuclear Security Strategies for Major Public Events’. A major public event (MPE) is a planned national or international event that requires the implementation of a security plan. An MPE usually involves the presence of a large number of people, such as a high-level political meeting or a large sporting event. MPEs draw public interest and receive media attention. This makes them attractive venues for demonstrations, protests, or even violence. One particular area of concern for States is the potential for these events to be used as stages for criminal acts and acts of terrorism, possibly involving nuclear and other radioactive material. This webinar will take a broad look at nuclear security for MPEs, including examples from recent MPEs around the world.

The objectives of the webinar are: 

• To engage the international nuclear security community in an open discussion about key issues related to nuclear security for major public events that were identified at ICONS 2024 as well as emerging challenges.
• To provide a platform for information exchange and strengthening international cooperation for nuclear security.