Kincardine’s mayor shared his experiences while in Vienna last month during a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Mayor Kenneth Craig was invited to join with mayors from nuclear host communities around the world, with a total of 26 community leaders in attendance.
“When you think of Vienna, you think of culture and food, but Vienna is also a busy, busy centre of international nuclear policy development,” Craig shared with council during Wednesday’s meeting.
During the conference, which took place from May 26-30th, the mayors of host communities discussed topics such as best practices for emergency preparedness and regulations, deepening global understanding from diverse perspectives, and staying informed on the ever-evolving landscape of nuclear energy.
“Tuesday of that week was devoted to hearing the international stories, including ours from the Municipality of Kincardine, from mayors and only mayors – no premiers, no prime ministers, no presidents. And we all talked of the hopes and challenges of being a host community of a nuclear power generating site, and we talked about economic development, power poverty, and insecurity, national and regional responsibilities, historic and present perceptions and change, waste storage management, municipal, industry, community and government partnerships, regulatory oversight, impact realities on local finances, whole nuclear lifecycle planning, and more.”
It also gave them an opportunity for connecting with the leaders of other host communities to share experiences and knowledge.
They were also able to use that knowledge to get the attention of the IAEA’s Director General, Rafael Grossi.
“If you have the attention of the Director General… if you get that interest, or your delegation gets to the 28th floor of the UN building, you have made it to heaven. It is the most wonderful achievement ever,” he joked. “And the mayors had that Director General’s attention for that week anyway… He was really attentive to the concerns of the mayors. Indeed he said ‘if there are no willing communities, there is no nuclear’.”
Craig also took part in a global partnership meeting, which is a draft arrangement between the Canadian Association of Nuclear Host Communities, the Group of European Municipalities with Nuclear Facilities (GMF), and the Energy Communities Alliance (ECA) from the USA.
During discussions, they were informed that the director general was looking for more cooperation and engagement with local communities.
The meetings also led to the decision that the Global Partnership will establish itself as a legal entity, which will be underpinned by by-laws contributed by the three organizations that are the founding members.
