Welcome to the iNET-EPR web portal!
The mission of the iNET-EPR is to assist Member States by establishing a mutually supportive network of academic educators and practical trainers. It also aims to contribute to global efforts to create, enhance and sustain capacity building in emergency preparedness and response (EPR), including an effective and collaborative network of Capacity Building Centres on EPR (CBCs-EPR).
Capacity building in EPR is essential for the sustainability of human resources, knowledge, and capabilities in responding to nuclear or radiological emergencies. It comprises of four essential elements:
- Education and Training;
- Human Resources Development;
- Knowledge Management;
- Knowledge Networks.
The iNET-EPR portal brings together education and training institutions to enable the sharing of knowledge and experiences. This portal includes institution profiles, case studies on capacity building activities, and collaboration spaces for the working groups of the network. Through this common platform, members can connect and work together to enhance their capacity building activities in EPR.
Introduction
The responsibility for establishing and sustaining a modern, flexible and professional emergency preparedness and response (EPR) system lies with the State. Member States have requested the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to work towards the establishment of an International Network for Education and Training on Emergency Preparedness and Response (iNET-EPR) to facilitate the sharing of information and resources and to promote collaboration and coordination in EPR-related matters among Member States that have, or intend to have, capacity building centres (CBCs) and those that do not have, but wish to benefit from, other States’ experience in this area.
To accomodate this request, the IAEA established the iNET-EPR, which was officially launched in 2020. However, due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, interactions and meetings were significantly limited during the initial phase.
In 2023, the Steering Committee and associated Working Groups of the Network resumed their activities. Despite these efforts, progress remained limited due to a range of operational and logistical challenges. In 2025, iNET-EPR activities were revitalised, culminating in the convening of a Steering Committee meeting in July 2025.
A key outcome of this meeting was the agreement to finalise the Terms of Reference (“TOR") of the Network for formal publication. The Steering Committee members unanimously endorsed a comprehensive review and revision of the TOR to ensure it provides clear strategic direction, supports continuity of activities, and aligns with the overarching objectives of iNET-EPR. The revised TOR is also intended to encourage active participation and foster meaningful contributions from network members, thereby enhancing the impact and sustainability of the initiative.
Mission
The mission of the iNET-EPR is to assist Member States by establishing a mutually supportive network of academic educators and practical trainers. It also aims to contribute to global efforts to create, enhance and sustain capacity building in EPR, including an effective and collaborative network of CBC on EPR.
Objectives
The main objectives are to encourage cooperation, support joint activities, identify best practices and to strengthen information sharing and expertise exchange among its participants.
The Network will bring together academics, education organizations, training organizations, universities and professionals, offering or planning to offer educational programs in EPR as part of a collaborative platform. This will facilitate the provision of education and training through the establishment of a supportive network of academic educators, trainers and professionals in capacity building in EPR, and the development and exchange of teaching and training materials. It will also facilitate the provision of degrees and certification in EPR and provide a model curriculum for EPR postgraduate programs.
To achieve these objectives, a wide range of activities will be carried out related to human resource development, technical and scientific support, materials for educational and training activities, outreach activities, exchange of information and best practices related to EPR programmes. The Network will provide a solid, mainly web-based, platform for coordination and collaboration with other networks and initiatives in safety and security issues in the EPR domain.
Membership Information
Membership is open to all organizations and entities in IAEA Member States involved in education and training related to EPR. Requests for membership shall be in writing to the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) through a Member State's official channel.
Requests for observer status may also be submitted in writing through official channels as indicated above and may be granted upon consideration and approval by relevant bodies of the Network and in accordance with established procedures.
In accordance with the TOR, Network members will be expected to share unclassified information within the Network and to provide information, as appropriate, when requested, and to support relevant work by contributing regularly to one or more of the Working Groups. Network members may assign representatives to participate in the Working Groups, as may be permitted by their internal resources and approval processes.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Who can join the network?
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Network membership is open to all organizations and entities in IAEA Member States involved in education and training related to EPR. |
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How can I join the network?
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Requests for membership should be made in writing to the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) through a State’s official channel for formal correspondence with the IAEA Secretariat. |
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What is expected of a Point of Contact?
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The Point(s) of Contact will act as the main interface with the IAEA Secretariat, through official channels with IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre, and will be responsible for managing national information on EPR capacity building on education and training programme on iNET-EPR’s portal. The Point(s) of Contact will be expected to have good knowledge of the State’s EPR human resource development and technical and scientific support programmes and to carry out specific tasks in this regard. |
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Can a country or Point of Contact join more than one working group?
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A Point of Contact joining more than one working group is not advised. A Point of Contact will only be allowed on to the private discussion forum of their own working group. However, the activities related to the other working groups can be followed through reports written by each working group which are available on their working group pages. |
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Who is responsible for the institution profile? What if my institution has more than one Point of Contact?
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The Point(s) of Contact for each institution are responsible for inputting the data on their institution profiles. If there are multiple Points of Contact for that institution, it is their responsible to coordinate among each other who will input what information. |
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Can I attend any of the courses listed in the Calendar? |
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Information on who can attend an event and how to sign up is indicated for each event separately. |
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I am an academic at a university, how can I join? |
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Network membership is open to all organizations and entities in IAEA Member States involved in education and training related to EPR, and this includes universities. A Point of Contact must be nominated in writing to the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) through a State’s official channel for formal correspondence with the IAEA Secretariat. If you wish to become a member, you should communicate with your country’s embassy or permanent mission so that they can nominate you as a Point of Contact. |
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When are the events held for iNET-EPR?
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The Calendar page in the iNET-EPR Portal offers information on events held by members of the network. The iNET-EPR meets once annually as a whole network, and the working group or other topical meetings may occur on an ad-hoc basis. |
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How do I get access to the iNET-EPR portal? |
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In order to get access to the iNET-EPR portal, you must be an officially nominated Point of Contact, and have a NUCLEUS account. More information about how to set up a NUCLEUS account can be found here: NUCLEUS Registration . |
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My country is not part of iNET-EPR. Would it be possible to view IAEA/External educational programmes and training courses?
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If you would like to coordinate with the IEC on their education and training programmes, please contact: iNET EPR Contact Point For external programmes, these are all advertised on each institution’s website directly. |
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Is it possible for non iNET-EPR members to upload materials to the portal? |
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It is not possible for non iNET-EPR members to upload materials to the portal. |
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What is observer status? How do you apply to be an observer? |
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Observer status, upon request through the official channels, may be granted upon the decision of the relevant bodies, on a case-by-case basis, and in line with the relevant documents for such status in the General Conference and Board of Governors meetings. |
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How can I see the photo album of our meeting last year? |
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Photo albums and other materials from the iNET-EPR meetings can be seen on the calendar. |
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What is the contact info for iNET-EPR portal? |
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The iNET-EPR contact point can be contacted at iNET EPR Contact Point.
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iNET-EPR Profiles
The iNET-EPR Profiles page allows Member States to publish the information about the capacity building activities in their institutions. Whether the institution is a CBC-EPR, training centre, research facility, regulatory body, government ministry, university, or other, the institution profile questionnaire provides an opportunity to share information about capabilities, areas of interest, and specializations unique to that institution. As a visitor to this page, you will be able to glance in one view what the institution has to offer, and more broadly the trends in EPR capacity building activities.
Working Groups
Working groups will be established to cover different functional areas in EPR and to carry out the activities of the network. The number of working groups will be flexible and determined as work is progressing. Working groups will be open to all members of the iNET-EPR and determined by Member States themselves. Each working group will be led by a Chair and a Vice-Chair and will be made up of representatives from the network members.
Each working group will be led by a Chair and a Vice Chair. The functions and activities are defined by the Working Groups and may be subject to change according to their specific action plans.
Working Group Chairs will be lead and coordinate the activities of the respective group, comunicate tasks to be completed to the Working Group members and report on progress in implementing Working Group activities at the Technical Meeting and/or Steering Committee Meeting. Working Group Chairs are also expected to support the Steering Committee Chjair and Vice Chair in setting the overall Network strategy.
Working Group Vice Chairs will support the Working Group Chairs in the discharge of all the above duties and may lead specific initiatives or Working Groups as assigned by the Working Group chair.
The Working Groups will hold at least one working session during the Technical Meetings of the Network in addition to their regular meetings.
Three existing Working Groups in the iNET-EPR have been reconstituted to better reflect the responsibilities of each Working Group:
- Working Group A: Training Delivery and Capacity Building;
- Working Group B: Education and academics, and Curriculum Development; and
- Working Group C: Knowledge Management and Outreach.
The roles, functions and activities will be defined by the working groups.
Working Group A: Training Delivery and Capacity Building
- To coordinate members within the iNET-EPR.
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To facilitate collaboration within the network and collaborate with other relevant networks.
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To assemble good practices in EPR capacity building.
Working Group B: Education and Academics, and Curriculum Development
- To enable the development and exchange of teaching and training materials.
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To produce a model curriculum for a Master’s Degree in EPR for suitable adoption by academic organisations interested in delivering EPR education, and consistent with IAEA guidelines.
Working Group C: Knowledge Management and Outreach
- To develop and maintain a web-based portal for the network to share and exchange information.
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To promote EPR education and training activities.
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To prepare material for outreach.
Steering Committee
The iNET-EPR Steering Committee is the highest governing body of the Network and will comprise the Chair and Vice Chair as well as the Chair and Vice Chair of each Working Group.
Its main role is to provide leadership in the activities of the Network. In particular, it will ensure coordination among Working Groups and their members, including through regular meetings, correspondence and periodic teleconference calls.
The Steering Committee Chair will coordinate the activities of the Network in consultation with the IAEA Secretariat, support Working Group activities as agreed by the Steering Committee, lead the Steering Committee in setting the overall strategy of the Network, track the overall status of implementation of Network activities, and serve as Chair of the Technical Meeting and other meetings.
The Steering Committee Vice Chair will support the Chair in the discharge of all the above duties and may lead specific initiatives or Working Groups as assigned by the Chair. The Vice Chair will represent the Chair when the latter is unavailable or absent.
Selection and Terms of Office
The Steering Committee will be elected from Member State Representatives by the Network members through a poll conducted at the Technical Meeting.
The term of office for the Steering Committee members, its Chair and Vice Chair, as well as each Working Group Chair and Vice Chair, will be three years. Individuals serving in these positions may be re-elected by Network members to serve for an additional term. The maximum term for any individual in one of these positions will not exceed two consecutive terms.
When the Steering Committee Chair or a Working Group Chair position becomes vacant, the respective Vice Chair will be given the first opportunity to assume the role to ensure continuity.
If the Steering Committee Vice Chair declines to assume the role of Chair during the intersessional period, the Steering Committee may nominate an interim candidate from among its other members or from Member State Representatives until the next Technical Meeting, where a new Chair will be elected.
If a Working Group Vice Chair declines to take on the role of Chair, the Steering Committee may nominate an interim candidate from among its other members or from Member State Representatives to take the position of the Chair until the next Technical Meeting, where a new Chair will be elected.
The same procedure outlined above applies when the position of Steering Committee Vice Chair or Working Group Vice Chair becomes vacant.
The duration of service as interim Steering Committee or Working Group Chairs and Vice Chairs will not count towards the three-year term for these positions.
Knowledge Networks
“Knowledge networks can be composed of networks of people or organizations that are linked by a common infrastructure for coordination or collaboration. Knowledge networks have been established to manage the knowledge and experience in an organization and to promote the pooling, analysis and sharing of knowledge at the national, regional and international levels. Knowledge networks allow for continuous improvements in nuclear safety related knowledge.”
- IAEA Report on Capacity Building for Nuclear Safety, IAEA, Vienna (2015).
Relevant Knowledge Networks
FORO
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FORO iberoamericano de Organismos Reguladores Radiológicos y Nucleares |
More Details...
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NERIS
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European Platform on Preparedness for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Response and Recovery |
More Details...
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