Four candidates contend position of IAEA chief

The nomination of candidates for the position of director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency ended yesterday, there are four candidates for the post, Russia’s permanent representative at international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.

"Four contenders will contest this post. All of them are experienced professionals and well-known to us," he tweeted.

The candidates for the position of IAEA director general are the acting IAEA director general, Romania’s former permanent representative at international organizations in Vienna Cornel Feruta, permanent representative of Argentina at international organizations in Vienna Rafael Grossi, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization’s preparatory commission Lassina Zerbo and head of the Slovak Nuclear Regulatory Authority Marta Ziakova, TASS reported.

On July 22, the IAEA said that IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano died. He was 72. The IAEA Board of Governors on August 1 allowed the member-states to nominate their candidates for the post of director general by September 5. Consultations and score voting will follow. The election process is to be completed by the end of October. The appointment of a new director general is expected in October. The inauguration is to take place no later than January 1, 2020.