WANO/IAEA Workshop to Owner Operators from Newcomer Nations in South Korea

In partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), WANO has participated in a successful workshop to engage several owner operators from newcomer nations that are embarking on nuclear projects. The IAEA’s interregional workshop on Preparedness of the Operating Organization for Construction and Operation of Nuclear Power Plants took place in Ulsan, South Korea, from 9 to 13 June 2025.

The purpose of the event was to discuss and share experiences on good practices related to the establishment of a knowledgeable and competent owner/operator organisation for construction, commissioning, and operation of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in line with the guidance provided by the IAEA.

Jeff Bone, Director Technical Support, commented: “The workshop was a great success. For us, the opportunity to understand maturity of nuclear plans and programmes in many newcomer nations worldwide has been immensely valuable. For attendees, the workshop demonstrated how both WANO and the IAEA provide unique, long established complementary expertise to support those owner operators and countries that are new to nuclear.”

Representatives from nineteen countries worldwide attended the workshop, including Estonia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Jordan, Czech Republic, among others. Jeff added, “we look forward to continuing our fruitful collaboration with our counterparts at the IAEA in this expanding area. We will continue to informally engage with key stakeholders from these newcomer countries. As soon as the future owner/ operators become sufficiently mature in their nuclear plan, they will be invited to join WANO, to benefit from our unique expertise and experience to help them progress their nuclear journey safely, reliably and on time.”