On 16 – 20 December 2018, the 14th Arab Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Co-organizers of the event were the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA) and the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority (EAEA) with the support of JINR, the State Corporation Rosatom, and UE ATOMTEX. The programme of the conference covers the use of nuclear reactors in various scientific realms, medicine, and economic activities, as well as issues of radiation safety and radiation resistance of materials.

The conference took place under the auspices of ARE Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. A large delegation of the Joint Institute took part in the event and was represented by Vice-Director R. Lednický, Head of the International Cooperation Department D. V. Kamanin, FLNP Deputy Directors O. Kulikov, N. Kučerka, and E. V. Lychagin, LIT Deputy Director T. A. Strizh, Deputy Director of the FLNR Nano Centre A. N. Nechaev, Coordinator of the JINR-ARE cooperation W. B. Badawy, VBLHEP specialists in the fields of technological innovations N. E. Sidorov and K. V. Klygina, as well as a staff member of the ICD Yu. N. Polyakova.

Key reports made by the JINR representatives were devoted to nuclear physics for fundamental and applied studied underway in FLNP JINR (E. V. Lychagin), neutron activation analysis and studies on radiation resistance of the IBR-2 reactor (O. Culicov), and neutron scattering for studies on condensed matter (N. Kučerka). Moreover, representatives were interested in the report by A. N. Nechaev on the use of accelerated heavy ions in the FLNR Centre of Applied Nuclear Physics.

Participants of the Conference were also introduced to the poster presentation of the Joint Institute that became a place for the exchange of opinions and discussions with representatives of a number of the AAEA Member States. For example, representatives of Iraq, the country with which JINR first started cooperation this year, expressed their interest in the activities of JINR. One of the active participants of the JINR exposition was a representative of the University of Alexandria (Egypt) Alaa Badawy with whom participants discussed the issues continuing the topic of the meeting in Cairo as of 15 December. An EAEA representative Hassan Saleh visited the JINR stand to learn more about the capabilities of the JINR Multifunctional Information and Computing Centre and, in particular, about the new JINR supercomputer Govorun. The information exchange in the frames of the exposition also gave an opportunity to establish contacts with representatives of leading European scientific organizations, such as CERN. Active work of the JINR information stand continued throughout the working week of the Conference.