| Year | Meeting # | Location | Participants | Member States |
| 1997 | 1st | IAEA, Vienna | 38 | 15 |
| 2005 | 2nd | ICTP, Trieste, Italy | 45 | 29 |
| 2006 | 3rd | KINS, Daejeon, Republic of Korea | 36 | 17 |
| 2007 | 4th | ICTP, Trieste, Italy | 61 | 34 |
| 2008 | 5th | CNEN-IRD, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 27 | 17 |
| 2009 | 6th | Food & Feed Safety Directorate, Budapest, Hungary | 51 | 22 |
| 2010 | 7th | ERPA, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia | 60 | 22 |
| 2011 | 8th | IAEA, Vienna | 79 | 48 |
| 2012 | 9th | TAEK, Ankara, Turkey | 46 | 27 |
| 2013 | 10th | CNSC, Ottawa, Canada | 35 | 21 |
| 2014 | 11th | IAEA, Vienna | 84 | 50 |
| 2015 | 12th | IAEA Environment Laboratories, Monaco | 61 | 44 |
| 2016 | 13th | ANSTO, Sydney, Australia | 50 | 31 |
| 2017 | 14th | SSM, Stockholm, Sweden | 74 | 45 |
| 2018 | 15th | JAEC, Amman, Jordan | 49 | 39 |
| 2019 | 16th | Schwarzenburg, Switzerland | 64 | 46 |
| 2020 | 17th | IAEA Headquarters, Vienna | | |
| 2021 | 18th | |||
| 2022 | 19th | |||
| 2023 | 20th | IAEA Headquarters, Vienna |
Upcoming Meetings
Past Meetings
16th ALMERA Coordination Meeting, Schwarzenburg, Switzerland 2019-10-16 to 2019-10-18. 64 participants, 46 member states.
15th Coordination Meeting of the IAEA’s Network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, Amman, Jordan
8–10 October 2018
More information available under: https://www.iaea.org/events/15th-coordination-meeting-of-the-iaeas-network-of-analytical-laboratories-for-the-measurement-of-environmental-radioactivity-almera
14th Coordination Meeting of the IAEA’s Network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity
Swedish Radiation Safety Authority, Stockholm, Sweden
23–25 October 2017
Summary: The 14th ALMERA coordination meeting took place at the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) in Stockholm, Sweden, from 23 to 25 October 2017. The meeting was attended by 74 participants from 45 Member States, representing 57 different institutions. Representatives of the five regional coordinating laboratories: the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group, the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Middle East regional group, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group, attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of the ALMERA activities and defined a work plan for the future development of the network’s activities in the areas of proficiency testing, recommended radioanalytical methods, training courses and workshops, methodologies supporting routine and emergency environmental monitoring, and radioecological assessment. The terms of reference of the network were discussed and proposals for regional technical cooperation projects supporting the ALMERA activities were brought forward in the regional groups to foster capacity-building in the regions.
The ALMERA participants proposed and agreed that for the period 2017-2021, the ALMERA coordinating laboratory for the Middle East regional group will be the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission.
13th Coordination Meeting of the IAEA’s Network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Sydney, Australia
26–28 October 2016
Summary: The 13th ALMERA coordination meeting took place at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney, Australia, from 26 to 28 October 2016. The meeting was attended by 50 participants from 31 Member States, representing 36 different institutions. Representatives of three regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group, attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the ALMERA activities and defined a work plan for the future development of the network’s activities in the areas of proficiency testing, recommended radioanalytical methods, training courses and workshops, methodologies supporting routine and emergency environmental monitoring, and radioecological assessment. Discussion took place on how to increase the role of regional coordination centres in mobilizing the network’s experience, supporting capacity building, and encouraging initiatives for regional cooperation and collaboration with other networks.
12th ALMERA Coordination Meeting IAEA Environment Laboratories, Monaco, 13-15 October 2015
Summary: The 12th ALMERA coordination meeting took place at the IAEA Environment Laboratories in Monaco, from 13 to 15 October 2015, marking the 20th anniversary of the network. The meeting was attended by 61 participants from 44 Member States, representing 50 different institutions. Representatives of four regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group; and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, attended the meeting. The core objectives of the meeting were to review the planned ALMERA activities and to define a future work plan for the development of the network’s activities in the areas of proficiency testing, recommended radioanalytical methods, training courses and workshops, methodologies supporting routine and emergency environmental monitoring, and radioecological assessment. The meeting fostered also discussion on how to increase the role of regional coordination centres in mobilizing the network’s experience, supporting capacity building and provision of expertise in relation with the IAEA technical cooperation programme, and encouraging initiatives for regional cooperation and collaboration with other networks.
11th ALMERA Coordination Meeting
IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria, 7-10 October 2014
Summary: The 11th ALMERA coordination meeting took place at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 7 to 10 October 2014, hosted by the IAEA Environment Laboratories. The meeting was attended by 84 participants from 50 Member States, representing 61 different institutions. Representatives of the five regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; the National Food Chain Safety Office of Hungary, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group; the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria (AECS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Middle East regional group; and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, attended the meeting. The overall aim of the meeting was to review the implementation status of the planned ALMERA activities and to define the future ALMERA activities related to proficiency tests, analytical method development and training courses. Strategies for further increasing collaboration and capabilities within ALMERA as a network, the benefits presented by the network to its member laboratories and the response capacity of ALMERA were discussed.
The ALMERA participants proposed and agreed that for the period 2015-2019, the ALMERA coordinating centre for the Europe regional group will be the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany.
More information on the coordination meeting is given in the following story published on the IAEA website at the time of the coordination meeting: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/towards-better-more-accurate-radioactivity-measurement
A photo essay on the ALMERA network was also published on the IAEA website at the time of the coordination meetinghttps://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/photoessays/almera-network-providing-accurate-measurements-monitoring-radioactivity-environment-1
10th ALMERA coordination meeting
Ottawa, Canada, 16-18 October 2013
Summary: The 10th ALMERA coordination meeting took place in Ottawa, Canada, from 16 to 18 October 2013, hosted by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC). The meeting was attended by 35 participants from 21 Member States, representing 25 different institutions. Representatives of four regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD, Brazil), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; the National Food Chain Safety Office of Hungary, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group; and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to review the implementation status of the planned ALMERA activities and to define the future ALMERA activities related to proficiency tests, analytical method development and training courses. Strategies for further increasing collaboration and capabilities of ALMERA as a network were discussed in terms of regional coordination, terms of reference, communication, collaborations, training/pool of expertise and new members.
The ALMERA participants proposed and agreed that for the period 2013-2017, the ALMERA coordinating centre for the North and Latin America regional group will be the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC).
9th ALMERA coordination meeting
Ankara, Turkey, 6-9 November 2012
Summary: The 9th ALMERA coordination meeting took place in Ankara, Turkey, from 6 to 9 November 2012, hosted by the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK). The meeting was attended by 46 participants from 27 Member States, representing 33 different institutions. Representatives of four regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD, Brazil), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; the Central Agricultural Office Food and Feed Safety Directorate of Hungary, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group; and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to review the implementation status of the current activities of the ALMERA network and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network. Meetings of the regional groups enabled the drafting of a list of specific regional needs. Meetings of the working groups related to the main activities of the ALMERA network, i.e. provision of proficiency tests, development of validated analytical methods as well as provision of training courses and workshops, provided inputs from the Member States to define the workplan for the future activities of the ALMERA network. Strategies for further increasing the response capacity of the ALMERA network and collaboration with other networks, such as RANET, were discussed. Enhancement of exchange with the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme was also discussed.
8th ALMERA coordination meeting
Vienna, Austria, 5-7 September 2011
Summary: The 8th ALMERA coordination meeting took place at the International Atomic Energy Agency Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 5 to 7 September 2011. The meeting was attended by 62 participants from 48 countries, representing 58 different institutions, by 3 IAEA consultants and, full-time or part-time, by 14 IAEA staff. Representatives of the five regional coordinating laboratories: the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group; the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD, Brazil), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group; the Central Agricultural Office Food and Feed Safety Directorate of Hungary, the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Europe regional group; and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA), the coordinating laboratory of the ALMERA Africa regional group, attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to review the implementation status of the ALMERA planned activities, to discuss strategies for further increasing the response capacity of ALMERA, and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network. Collaboration with other networks, such as RANET, and strengthening exchange with the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme through provision of regional expertise by ALMERA members and support for integration of new laboratories from developing Member States were also discussed.
7th ALMERA coordination meeting,
Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 11-13 October 2010
Summary: The 7th ALMERA coordination meeting took place in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, from 11 to 13 October 2010, organized by the Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority and hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute in Addis-Ababa. The meeting was attended by the following 60 participants from 22 countries, representing 32 different institutions. Representatives of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), as coordinating centre of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group, a representative of the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD, Brazil) as coordinating centre of the ALMERA North and Latin America regional group, and a representative of the Central Agricultural Office Food and Feed Safety Directorate of Hungary, as coordinating centre of the ALMERA Europe regional group, also attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to establish an ALMERA regional group for Africa, to evaluate the current status of the ALMERA network, and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network.
The ALMERA participants proposed and agreed that for the period 2011-2015, the ALMERA coordinating centre for the Africa regional group will be the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation Ltd (NECSA).
6th ALMERA coordination meeting
Budapest, Hungary, 23-25 November 2009
Summary: The 6th ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Budapest, Hungary, from 23 to 25 November 2009 and was hosted by the Radio-analytical Reference Laboratory of the Central Agricultural Office, Food and Feed Safety Directorate. The meeting was attended by 51 participants from 22 countries, representing 32 different institutions. Representatives of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), as coordinating centre of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group, and representative of the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD, Brazil) as coordinating centre of the ALMERA North and Latin America group, attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the current activities of the ALMERA network, and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network.
The ALMERA participants proposed and agreed that for the period 2010-2014, the ALMERA coordinating centre for the Europe regional group will be the Radio-analytical Reference Laboratory of the Central Agricultural Office, Food and Feed Safety Directorate, Budapest, Hungary.
The ALMERA participants were informed about the request to IAEA by the Syrian Arab Republic Atomic Energy Commission (AECS) to coordinate the ALMERA regional group for Middle East. The ALMERA participants considered this request acceptable, in order also to involve more laboratories from Middle East into the network.
5th ALMERA coordination meeting
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 27-29 October 2008
Summary: The 5th ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 27 to 29 October 2008 and was hosted by the Comissao Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (CNEN-IRD). The meeting was attended by 27 participants from 17 countries, representing 21 different institutions. Representatives of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS), as coordinating centre of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional group, attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to evaluate the current status of the ALMERA network, to discuss the implementation of the current activities of the ALMERA network; and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network.
The ALMERA participants agreed to nominate the Institute of Radiation Protection Dosimetry of the Brazilian National Commission of Nuclear Energy (CNEN-IRD), as coordinating centre for the North and Latin America region, for the period 2009-2013. The participants of the 5th ALMERA coordination meeting recommended that the focal points of each ALMERA regional focal point should rotate every five years between members of the same regional group.
4th ALMERA coordination meeting
Trieste, Italy, 5-7 November 2007
Summary: The 4th ALMERA network coordination meeting and the workshop on ‘Understanding and evaluating radioanalytical measurement uncertainty’ took place in Trieste, Italy, at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), from 5th to 16th November 2007. The 4th ALMERA network coordination meeting and the workshop on ‘Understanding and evaluating radioanalytical measurement uncertainty’ was attended by 61 participants from 34 different countries. The workshop on ‘Understanding and evaluating radioanalytical measurement uncertainty’ represented a possibility for scientists from ALMERA analytical laboratories to work on practical exercises, and to refresh and up-date their knowledge and skills in uncertainty calculations. The workshop involved the participants in group exercises through the process of evaluation of radioanalytical results including the assessment of uncertainty budget, supported by a combination of lectures, interactive exercises on selected study cases, and practical demonstrations in the ICTP laboratories.
3rd ALMERA coordination meeting
Daejon, Republic of Korea, 13-16 November 2006
Summary: The third ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Daejeon (Republic of Korea) from 13th to 16th November 2006 and was hosted by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). The meeting was attended by 36 participants from 17 different countries.
The overall aim of the meeting was to evaluate the current status of the ALMERA network laboratories and to defining the structure of the ALMERA network. During the meeting it was also agreed that for the period 2007-2009, the coordinating centres for the Africa-Europe-Middle East regions will be the IAEA central ALMERA coordinator, i.e. the Chemistry Unit of the IAEA Physics, Chemistry and Instrumentation Laboratory (PCI) and the coordinating centre for the Asia-Pacific region will be the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS).
Report (IAEA/AL/177)
2nd ALMERA coordination meeting
Trieste, 14-18 November 2005
Summary: The second ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Trieste (Italy) on 15 November 2005 and was hosted by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). 45 participants from 29 different institutions attended the meeting.
The overall aim of the meeting was to evaluate the current status of the ALMERA network laboratories and to help to improve their technical competence through harmonization of sampling, monitoring and measurement protocols and staff training. The meeting was also addressed to defining the structure of the ALMERA network and future proficiency tests and intercomparison trials to be organized by the IAEA to help the laboratories to maintain and improve the quality of their analytical measurements. At the 2nd coordination meeting, the IAEA Secretariat was requested to develop a proposal for the new structure of the network, ready for presentation and discussion at the third ALMERA coordination meeting, to be held at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) in Daejeon, Republic of Korea, in November 2006.
Report (IAEA/AL/164)
1st ALMERA coordination meeting
Vienna, Austria, 17 November 1997
Summary: The first ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Vienna (Austria) on 17 November 1997 and was hosted by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP).
38 participants from 15 countries attended the meeting. One of the purposes of the meeting was to provide the participants with an opportunity to review and discuss the results of the first intercomparison exercises carried out in 1995-1996. The second purpose of the meeting was to have the participants discuss and decide the future role and functions of the network.
Report (IAEA/AL/056)
Regional meetings:
1st ALMERA Regional Coordinators’ meeting,
Monaco, 27-29 July 2011
Summary: The 1st meeting of the ALMERA regional coordinators was convened at the IAEA Environment Laboratories (IAEA-EL) between 27-29 July 2011. The aim of the meeting was to prepare proposals in support of enhancing the functioning and role of ALMERA, to be further submitted for discussion to the 8th ALMERA Coordination Meeting to be held in Vienna from 5 to 7 September 2011. The objectives of the meeting were to review the status of ALMERA activities; to propose plans of activities in the areas of PT, methodological developments, workshops and information exchange, in particular with respect to radiological emergencies, in light of the Fukushima NPP accident; to summarise information relevant to the statute and rules of the ALMERA network from various documents (minutes of coordination meetings, webpages, newsletters) and produce a draft document establishing Terms of Reference (ToR) for the ALMERA collaboration, and to draft an Agenda for the 8th ALMERA Coordination Meeting. It was agreed that this first regional coordinators’ meeting was important for increasing communication, the role of regional coordination and for the preparation of the upcoming general coordination meeting.
Preparatory meeting to annual coordination meeting
Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, 16-18 December 2009
Summary: The meeting in Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia), from 16 to 18 December 2009, took place at the Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority headquarters and had as its objective preparation for the 7th ALMERA network coordination meeting, which will take place in Addis-Ababa in October 2010.
The discussions pointed out the need to take more active actions to involve into the ALMERA network, institutions from Africa. It was also pointed out to involve into the ALMERA network institutions linked with radioecological studies (modelling, environmental parameters definition,...).
Asia-Pacific regional meeting
Daejon, Korea, 20-22 April 2009
Summary: The ALMERA Asia-Pacific regional meeting took place in Daejeon, the Republic of Korea, from 20 to 22 April 2009 and was hosted by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). The meeting took place in the frame of the 20th anniversary workshop between KINS (Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety) and JCAC (Japan Chemical Analysis Centre) on the measurement of environmental radioactivity and in connection also with the IAEA seminar on uptake of radionuclides into staple crops in the Asian region organized in Daejeon, in collaboration with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), on 16 and 17 April 2009. An official IAEA plaque was delivered to KINS in recognition of its role as coordinating centre of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific group. The overall aim of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the current activities of the ALMERA Asia-Pacific group, and to define the future activities of the ALMERA network. The ALMERA participants suggested that ALMERA network should be subdivided into additional three regional groups: Africa, Europe and Middle East.
Asia-Pacific regional meeting
Daejon, Korea, 10-12 December 2007
Summary: The 2007 Asia-Pacific regional ALMERA network coordination meeting took place in Daejeon (the Republic of Korea) from 10th to 12th December 2007 and was hosted by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS). The meeting was attended by 20 participants from 7 different institutions.
The meetings permitted improved communications between network members, assessment of the status of the laboratories and improvement in the collaborations between members of the same regional group. The main aim of the meeting was to discuss and define the work plan for the development of rapid analysis method of Sr-90 in fresh milk.