The agreement was signed on 8 August and provides for an additional contribution to the Program of Action for Cancer Therapy. One of the most compelling non-energy efforts of the IAEA, the program has been implemented since 2004 and aims to intensify anti-cancer activities of IAEA Member States.

The program provides for fund-raising events and implementation of relevant projects in Member States. The agreement was signed by Vladimir Uiba, Head of FMBA, Nikolai Spassky, Rosatom’s Deputy CEO for International Relations, and Dazhu Yang, IAEA’s Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation.

According to the document, Russia will organize training courses for Russian and European experts to be held in 2016–2019 under the auspices of IAEA. Additionally, Burnazyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Center will be audited for compliance with the IAEA requirements for radiation oncology.

It should be noted that Rosatom is active in developing nuclear medicine technologies in the country. Russian nuclear scientists focus primarily on the production of positron emission tomography scanners, medical isotopes and pharmaceuticals for cancer diagnostics. Rosatom is also involved in establishing nuclear medicine centers across Russia.