ARTI designated as three consecutive IAEA Collaborating Centre 

The ceremony for handing over the plaque for IAEA’s designation of the Advanced Radiation Research Institute (ARTI) as the IAEA Collaborating Centre was held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria on 24 August 2022 (Vienna Time).  

Guests of honor such as Ms. Najat Mokhtar, IAEA Deputy Director General for Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Ms. Melissa Denecke, Director of the Physical and Chemical Division, Mr. Sang Wook Kang, Minister Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Korea to the IAEA, graced the event with their attendance at the ceremony. On behalf of ARTI, Dr. Don Eun Lee, Director of Radiation Research Division at ARTI, expressed his sincere appreciation to the dedicated IAEA Secretariat Staff for the significant support provided to ARTI over the past years in designating ARTI as an IAEA Collaborating Centre for Environment, Biotechnology and Material Industry (including Demonstration) and in ARTI’s hosting of platforms such as IAEA TC workshops and training courses for international collaboration. 

The IAEA Collaborating Centre is an IAEA member state institution, which focuses on research, development and training. It has been designated by the IAEA to support their programmatic activities by implementing an agreed work plan. Currently, a total of 46 institutions in 33 member states have been designed as the IAEA Collaborating Centre. 

ARTI was designated as the IAEA Collaborating Centre for the first time in 2012 in the areas of Radiation Processing for Environmental Remediation, Advanced Materials and Food Irradiation. ARTI was re-designated in 2017 as the IAEA Collaborating Centre in the areas of radiation processing technology and application research for environmental remediation, advanced materials, foods, and biotechnology. ARTI’s three consecutive designation as the IAEA Collaborating Centre is the first-ever in Korea. 

This designation resulted from the IAEA’s recognition of ARTI’s active activities conducted over the past 4 years and ARTI plans to make its utmost efforts to focus on electric beam demonstration and response to infectious diseases in cooperation with the IAEA. ARTI using the electron beam process demonstration research facilities will expand its education program for this area and set up international frameworks for its commercialization. ARTI will also explore new technical cooperation avenues under IAEA’s ZODIAC initiative for detection, monitoring and characterization of zoonotic disease pathogens through applied R&D activities by using nuclear and related techniques. 

As a leading organization specializing in radiation fusion technology, ARTI will be fully complementary to the promotional role of the IAEA in the nuclear sciences and this designation will provide a better platform to bring in advanced experience and to participate in international collaboration regarding radiation technology. Based on its enhanced and even more fruitful collaboration with the IAEA, ARTI will continue to play an active role in the international community and in assisting the IAEA in promoting radiation technology, personnel training, and carrying out scientific research.