Ambassador Diego Stacey, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the IAEA, and Ana María Cetto, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, have signed Ecuador's Country Programme Framework (CPF), for the period of 2010 - 2015, on 19 November 2010. A Country Programme Framework (CPF) is the frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a Member State and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals.
Ecuador has been an IAEA Member State since 1958. Its 2010-2015 CPF identifies five priority areas:
- Human Health - tissue banks, medical services, nutrition and cancer treatment.
- Food Security - fighting crop disease, applying food irradiation techniques, optimal crop fertilization and soil care.
- Environment - water resource management, improving air quality, monitoring and controlling pollution.
- Energy and Industry - training in various energy related topics, evaluation of uranium, thorium and other mineral deposits.
- Radiological Safety - strengthening the activities of the regulatory authority, support to the updating national legislation on security, as well as waste management, and response to radioactive emergencies.