Monday, 25 November – The first conference Nuclear Safety Today was successfully held in the House of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
The meeting, organized by Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate SRBATOM, gathered around 150 representatives from the diplomatic corps, research institutes, faculties, medical institutions, expert associations, industry, Deputies, students and the media, with the aim of showing how cooperation with scientific and expert bodies can contribute to further the understating of the use nuclear energy and nuclear technologies as well.
While opening the conference, the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the Board of the Directorate, Ms Maja Gojković, said, among other things, that when it comes to power sources as powerful as the nuclear ones, we have to take into consideration each aspect of their safety and security – technological, political, natural, human, with special attention paid to human and political factors which remain crucial.
Slađan Velinov, director of SRBATOM pointed out that the prime goal of the conference is to address major issues of nuclear safety, the use of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation for peaceful purposes, as well as the issues of regulating and controlling such practises.
“By adopting the Law on Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security, the Republic of Serbia provided for the higher level of protection for the citizens and the environment from the harmful effect of ionizing radiation. “In this respect, Serbia also ratified several international conventions”, said Ms Gojković and added that the participation of Serbian institutions in the international exercise ConvEx-3 confirmed our readiness to respond timely in case of accidents in the neighbouring nuclear power plants.
“This conference gives us the opportunity to say that Serbian Radiation and Nuclear Safety and Security Directorate serves to the benefit of all citizens, and that, despite dilemmas and fears associated with nuclear energy, it remains to be the most regulated human practice”, said Sladjan Velinov.
Other speakers at the opening were Dr Vladimir Popovic, state secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, prof. Snezana Pajovic, Acting director of the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences and Dalibor Arbutina, Acting director of the Public Company Nuclear Facilities of Serbia (NOS).
The topics of four panels at the conference were: (1) nuclear safety- past and present, (2) radiation benefits – applications in industry and medicine, (3) radioactive waste and nuclear material, and (4) regulations, control, communication with the public and the phenomenon of Chernobyl in popular culture. The twelve experts in this area who participated in the discussions were: Zoran Drače from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr Djordje Lazarević and Dr Milutin Jevremović from PC Nuclear Facilities of Serbia, Vedrana Vuletić, Milan Vujović, Vladimir Janjić and Dr Bojan Radak from SRBATOM, Dr Sanja Vanješ Djurić, Dr Ivica Vujičić and Radmila Ćorović Medenica from Vinca Institute, prof. Darko Trifunović from the Institute for National and International Security, medical doctors and prof. Goran Milašinović and Dr Milovan Matović, and finally Robert Čoban from Color Media Grup, responsible for the technical organization of the conference.