US announces more than $1 million pledge towards IAEA laboratory modernization

Officials from the United States recently announced a pledge of $1.091 million (€1 million) to modernize the laboratories of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Siebersdorf, Austria, which provide key nuclear research in various areas of human and animal health, food security, and environmental protection.

U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood announced the contribution this week at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna.

The contribution will go towards the construction of a new animal production and health laboratory, one of eight laboratories scheduled to be modernized under the IAEA’s Renovation of the Nuclear Applications Laboratories (ReNuAL) and ReNuAL Plus programs.

The U.S. pledge now brings the organization halfway to its desired €2 million target that the agency needs to reach by June to start construction on time and maximize cost efficiencies.

“The IAEA’s work in helping countries to apply nuclear technologies to quickly detect and control animal diseases posing threats to food and economic security and to health is increasingly in demand,” IAEA Deputy Director General Aldo Malavasi said. “This week, for example, in Seibersdorf the agency is training 16 veterinary experts from seven Member States in diagnosing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in camels – a zoonotic respiratory disease that is very dangerous to humans. This contribution is very welcome.”