IAEA, Oppenheimer Team Up for Nuclear Energy Outreach
The IAEA and the Oppenheimer Project of the United States of America have agreed to strengthen their cooperation on building partnerships and communicating about the beneficial uses of peaceful nuclear technologies.
The Oppenheimer Project, a non-profit organization, is grounded in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s belief that international cooperation is essential for a peaceful future amid rapid technological advancements. Its mission supports the safe and responsible use of nuclear technology for energy and economic security, while promoting efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi and Charles Oppenheimer, Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Oppenheimer Project, signed the Practical Arrangements agreement at IAEA headquarters in Vienna last week. Mr Oppenheimer is the grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who led the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II.
“In recent months, the IAEA and the Oppenheimer Project have collaborated successfully on a variety of activities related to nuclear energy. With this new partnership agreement, we will work towards a more structured approach to our collaboration, further enhancing the Agency’s support to its Member States,” Mr Grossi said.
“International cooperation has always been the key to expanding peaceful uses of nuclear energy,” Mr Oppenheimer said during the signing ceremony, which took place on the margins of the IAEA’s first International Conference on Stakeholder Engagement for Nuclear Power Programmes.
“We’re honoured to sign this inspiring arrangement and to work alongside the IAEA – an organization at the forefront of global nuclear leadership – in pursuit of nuclear for good. Stakeholder engagement is a central focus for our organization, so this is a particularly fitting time to announce our partnership with the IAEA. We believe in creating every opportunity to collaborate with partners around the world,” he added.
Charles Oppenheimer, a featured speaker at last week’s conference, was also a panellist at last year’s Nuclear Energy Summit, co-organized by the IAEA and the Government of Belgium, where he discussed private sector financing of nuclear newbuild projects. He also provided keynote remarks at the IAEA’s inaugural Nuclear Stakeholder Engagement School, jointly organized last November with the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.
The IAEA, in turn, participated in an Oppenheimer Dialogue Funder Roundtable in January 2025 in San Francisco, California, focused on establishing a community of practice among climate philanthropies on the future of nuclear energy technologies. The Agency also joined an Oppenheimer Project side event held on the side lines of the last week’s IAEA conference.
The partnership agreement, which lasts three years, envisions further participation in each other’s events on nuclear energy, including engagement with the next generation of leaders on peaceful nuclear technologies, with an emphasis on the nexus between nuclear, climate change, Artificial Intelligence and policy. The agreement also foresees collaboration on expanding support and partnerships for the IAEA’s Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme, which provides scholarships and internship opportunities for women students pursuing master’s degrees in the nuclear field.
https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/iaea-and-oppenheimer-project-boost-cooperation-on-nuclear-energy-outreach