Oman Reaffirms Cooperation Commitment at IAEA General Conference, Promotes Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology

The Sultanate of Oman delivered a statement at the 70th Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference held in Vienna, Austria, expressing appreciation for the work of the IAEA Secretariat and reaffirming its continued close cooperation with the Agency and its Member States to achieve strategic objectives and further enhance the key role of nuclear technology in peace and modern development.

The statement was delivered on behalf of the Sultanate of Oman by Faiza Saif Al Siyabi, Chargé d'Affaires of Oman's Permanent Mission to the IAEA. In its statement, Oman welcomed the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste as a new member of the IAEA.

In its statement, Oman emphasized its willingness to actively participate in several IAEA specialized initiatives, including the "Atoms for Food" initiative, the Global Network of Isotope Laboratories in Hydrology, and the "Atoms for Heritage" initiative for cultural heritage preservation, and applied to participate in the Integrated Capacity Building Initiative for State Systems of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material for the 2027/2028 cycle.

The statement confirmed that Oman is steadily advancing its technical cooperation projects for the 2028-2029 cycle, with a focus on food safety, crop pest control, and the "One Health" approach, while continuing to participate in the regional project on nuclear science and technology education in the school system, as well as activities related to the International Nuclear Science Olympiad and the International Science and Technology Academy.

Oman also announced at the conference that it will host a regional training course on "Cyclotron-Produced Radionuclides" for Arab countries in West Asia in Muscat in November this year, and a regional training course on "Vector Genomics and Bioinformatics" for the Gulf Cooperation Council in January 2027, to strengthen capacity building and train specialized technical personnel.

In the field of health and medicine, the statement noted that the Sultan Qaboos Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Centre, affiliated with the University Medical City, is actively applying to become one of the IAEA's core anchor centres in radiotherapy and nuclear medicine, and mentioned that the centre received Joint Commission International (JCI) patient safety accreditation again in June 2026.

The statement mentioned that the IAEA's Radiotherapy Quality Assurance Team highly praised the centre's operational quality and expanded services in February this year, and announced that another expert assessment team will soon evaluate the service quality of the Radiotherapy Department at the Royal Hospital, in order to further upgrade and modernize cancer diagnosis and treatment facilities.