Project on the Iraq former nuclear complex

Decommissioning of the Iraq former nuclear complex

Current News

	Decommissioning Challenges - International Conference takes place in Agivnon, France - The French Nuclear Energy Society (SFEN), at their 4th biennial conference, organized a conference on 28 September to 2 October, 2008 to ... read more

	LAMA facility site clearance begins - Iraq's Decommissioning Programme (IDP) for its former nuclear facilities is starting with site clearance around the LAMA facility at Al-Tuwaitha site near Baghdad, and then its dismantlement. The challenges ... read more

	Ceremony to mark commencement of the Decommissioning of the LAMA Facility - Iraqi officials launched the first hands-on work of Iraq Decommissioning Programme. A cleanup effort that's expected to take at least 15 years and ... read more

Project Overview

There are a number of sites in Iraq which have been used for nuclear activities and which contain potentially significant amounts of radioactive material. Many of these sites suffered substantial physical damage during the Gulf Wars and several have been subject to looting of materials and equipment as a consequence of the challenging security situation in the country. All of these sites have some degree of contamination and require decommissioning and remediation in order to ensure radiological safety.

In December 2004 the Government of Iraq requested IAEA assistance to determine the effort needed to implement this work and to set up plans and programmes for its delivery. An initiating meeting was convened in Vienna in February 2006 attended by the Iraqi Minister for Science and Technology and by representatives from sixteen countries and the European Commission. The meeting agreed the broad scope of the assistance project. The project is coordinated by the Waste and Environmental Safety Section within the IAEA Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, with input and support from other IAEA Divisions and by many Member States. The project is supported financially by contributions from the United States.

The current project activities address the following broad fields:

The development of a new nuclear law and supporting regulations, together with the formation of a new Regulatory Body building from the experience of the existing regulators
Continuing assistance as Iraq drafts and passes its own nuclear law (building upon work done previously in the project)
Trial of draft regulations that will underpin the nuclear law
Establishment of the inventory of wastes remaining within Iraq nuclear sites and facilities
The use of the system developed to prioritise the decommissioning activities across all the sites/facilities
The preparation of a decommissioning and waste management policy and strategy for the country
Building the capacity and experience of Iraqi personnel and organisations in the field of nuclear decommissioning
Supporting the development of the Iraqi decommissioning programme management organisation
Preparation for the first demolition and dismantling project within the programme

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