In brief
On 10 November, the IAEA began its 15th Symposium on International Safeguards in Vienna, emphasizing the need for innovation and resilience in a rapidly changing world. Deputy director general Massimo Aparo urged global stakeholders to keep the safeguards system resilient, citing progress in industry partnership, capacity building, and field‑verification tools. The event highlighted nearly 3,000 in‑field verifications, 2,800 satellite images, and 24,000 seal checks performed in 2025, illustrating the scope of current safeguards operations.
On 10 November, the International Atomic Energy Agency opened its 15th Symposium on International Safeguards in Vienna, bringing together roughly 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries and 20 international organisations.
The agency framed the four‑day meeting around the themes of innovation, resilience, and shared responsibility—an approach it says is essential as rapid technological advances, a renewed interest in nuclear energy, shifting geopolitics, and new security risks test the safeguards system.
Progress Since 2022
Massimo Aparo, IAEA deputy director general and head of the Department of Safeguards, called on policymakers, industry, civil society and inspectors to sustain resilience and embrace innovations.
“Our operating environment is undergoing significant changes that are testing our resilience and challenging us to be more innovative,” he said.
Aparo pointed to several achievements since the 2022 symposium, including tighter collaboration with industry and regulators to design nuclear technologies with safeguards built into their core. He also noted the completion of the first regular cycle of the comprehensive capacity‑building initiative COMPASS and continued development of inspection equipment used in the field.
In 2025 the IAEA conducted almost 3,000 in‑field verifications in 191 states, gathered nearly 1,000 samples, monitored about 1,400 surveillance cameras, obtained more than 2,800 commercial satellite images, and verified over 24,000 seals. These figures illustrate the scale of today’s verification activities.
The symposium’s programme, as outlined by the IAEA, covers emerging technologies, organisational resilience and international cooperation, offering a forum for participants to identify new opportunities and challenges in safeguards and to foster partnerships across the nuclear community.
