September 23, 2026

On September 8, 2026, Ms. Hildegarde Vandenhove, Director of the Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center (NSC) of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Chai Guohan, Director General of NSC, and heads of relevant departments participated in the exchange activities.

At present, cooperation between NSC and the IAEA is continuously deepening. Since NSC was designated by the IAEA in May 2023 as the world's first Collaborating Center on Nuclear and Radiation Safety, NSC has successfully hosted high-level activities on this platform, including the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Leadership Workshop, the ANSN regional workshops, and multiple sessions of international training, with the platform's agglomeration and spillover effects becoming increasingly prominent. NSC has always been a trusted partner of the IAEA.

During the discussion, the two sides fully exchanged views on topics including environmental impact assessment of nuclear facilities, radiation monitoring technology, transport and waste safety, and international review experience.

In terms of environmental impact assessment of nuclear facilities, NSC is responsible for the technical review of environmental impact assessments for nuclear-related construction projects and the review of effluent discharge management. It also leads IAEA Technical Cooperation (TC) projects in the field of radioactive waste management and actively participates in the work of the IAEA Waste Safety Standards Committee (WASSC), continuously contributing Chinese experience to the formulation of global standards.

In terms of radiation monitoring technology, NSC officially joined the IAEA Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity (ALMERA) network in 2024, has achieved satisfactory results in multiple laboratory comparisons and proficiency tests, and undertakes the guidance and coordination of the National Nuclear Safety Administration's pre-research on 20 radiation monitoring standards.

In terms of transport and waste safety, NSC continuously participates in the work of the IAEA Transport Safety Standards Committee (TRANSSC), systematically sharing China's regulatory practices. It led the completion of technical support for the eighth national report under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, for which China historically received four "good practices," and the compilation and review of the ninth national report have been fully launched.

In terms of international review, in the 2025 IAEA Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission to China, NSC, as the core technical support institution, participated in depth throughout the process, writing more than a thousand pages of self-assessment reports and 46 high-quality documents. China's nuclear and radiation safety regulation work and NSC's waste management information system were highly praised by the review team and listed as "good practices."

After the talks, Vandenhove visited the Nuclear and Radiation Emergency Command Center, the nuclear and radiation safety regulation informatization platform, the nuclear power safety big data platform, the software sharing laboratory, the thermal-hydraulics laboratory, and the radiation environment monitoring exhibition hall, and spoke highly of NSC's technical strength and hardware facilities.

Chai Guohan stated that he looks forward to further deepening cooperation between the two sides in the fields of radiation monitoring, transport safety, waste management, and more under the framework of the IAEA Collaborating Center, and jointly making greater contributions to global nuclear and radiation safety.