On September 19, 2017, in Vienna, during the 61st IAEA General Conference, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Paraguay signed an agreement on cooperation for peaceful use of nuclear power.
The document was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Director General of ROSATOM, on behalf of Russia and by César Cardozo Román, Minister and Executive Secretary of the National Radiological and Nuclear Control Agency (Autoridad Reguladora Radiológica y Nuclear, ARRN) on behalf of Paraguay.
The agreement will be a starting point for an active dialogue between the two countries in the nuclear area and will help to start practical implementation of specific cooperation projects. In particular, the document forms a legal basis for the cooperation between Russia and Paraguay on peaceful use of nuclear power in a wide range of areas, such as: assistance with the creation and improvement of a nuclear infrastructure of the Republic of Paraguay in accordance with international recommendations; nuclear and radiation safety control, supervision of the physical protection of nuclear materials, radiation sources, nuclear materials and radioactive materials storage points, as well as accounting and control systems for nuclear materials, radioactive materials, and radioactive waste; fundamental and applied research in peaceful nuclear power use; production of radionuclides and their use in medicine, industrial and agricultural sectors; cooperation on the use of radiation technologies and nuclear medicine; training, education, and retraining of nuclear power specialists.
In order to implement the above cooperation activities, the agreement stipulates the formation of joint task force teams to be responsible for specific projects and scientific research, as well as expert exchange, workshops and conferences, assistance with training and education of scientific and technical staff, scientific and technical information exchange, and supply of equipment, materials, and components.
The Agreement was signed to develop the Memorandum of Understanding between the ROSATOM and the National Radiological and Nuclear Control Agency dated October 18, 2016.