Scientific and Technological Cooperation

The International Energy Agency (IEA) was established under the OECD in 1974, following the first oil crisis, with the initial participation of 16 countries, including Italy. IEA members are currently 30 out of 36 OECD member countries. The European Commission participates in the Agency’s works without voting rights.

The IEA activities are focused on 4 main intervention areas: energy safety, economic development, environmental awareness and global commitment.

ENEA participates in the Standing Group on Long Term Cooperation and the Committee on Energy Research and Technology as well as in Working Groups and Technology Collaboration Programmes. These latter are the instruments allowing governments and other organizations to gather resources, strengthen research and develop specific technologies, so that they can share research on breakthrough technologies, fill existing research gaps, build pilot plants and carry out deployment or demonstration programmes.

ENEA delegates at IEA are designated in agreement with the Directorate General for Security of Supply and Energy Infrastructure of the Italian Ministry for Economic Development.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the official Organization of the United Nations in the field of nuclear energy, established in 1957 in response to the famous U.S. President Eisenhower’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on 8 December 1953, later known as the "Atoms for Peace". From this discussion also follow the guidelines for the drafting of the Statute of the Agency, approved unanimously by 81 Nations in October 1956: to promote the peaceful use of atomic energy and to ensure that the dissemination of the related technology is not conducive to the development of military projects. As of February 2019, the Agency comprises 171 Member States.

The IAEA is headed by a Director General and six Deputy Directors General, each heading its major departments:

• Management;
• Nuclear Sciences and Applications;
• Nuclear Energy;
• Nuclear Safety and Security;
• Technical Cooperation;
• Safeguards.

The main policy-making bodies of the IAEA are the General Conference, comprising representatives of all Member States, and the Board of Governors, consisting of representatives from 35 Member States, elected every two years by the General Conference.

Detailed reports on the activities of the Agency are regularly submitted to the UN Security Council and General Assembly.

Established in 1958, the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specific organism under the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries with headquarters in Paris. The NEA is the only intergovernmental and non-political organization for nuclear energy whose membership consists of 33 member countries, main producers of electricity from nuclear energy sources. NEA member countries are concentrated in Europe, North America, and Pacific Asia, accounting for approximately 82% of the global nuclear installed capacity.

As per statute, the NEA mission is "to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." In order to encourage exchange of information and experience among its member countries, the NEA acts as a forum focusing on the following thematic areas:

• Nuclear safety and regulation
• Nuclear energy development
• Radioactive waste management
• Radiological protection and public health
• Nuclear law and liability
• Nuclear science
• The Data Bank
• Information and communication

The NEA operates through technical committees coordinated by a Steering Committee, which is the governing body of the NEA directly reporting to the OECD Council. The technical committees gather experts from all member countries, who contribute to the definition of programs of activities while actively participating in their implementation and benefiting from the results.
The NEA closely collaborates with The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission. Within OECD, the activities of NEA and the International Energy Agency (IEA) are closely coordinated.

Experts from ENEA actively participate in the Steering Committee and are members of many working groups and technical committees.

ENEA delegates at NEA are designated in agreement with the Directorate General for Energy of the Italian Ministry for Economic Development.