IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano inspects the La Mesa Dam water treatment facility during his recent visit to Manila on 09-11 December 2010.

Philippines re-designated as IAEA Collaborating Center

The Philippines has been re-designated by the IAEA for another three-year term as a Collaborating Center on the application of nuclear techniques in the study of harmful algal blooms, or colloquially known as the “red tide phenomenon”.  This is an IAEA project aimed at improving Member State capabilities in using nuclear techniques to understand and assess changes in coastal and marine ecosystems and to manage marine natural resources.  Specifically, it aims to develop a better understanding of the transfer of marine biotoxin in seafoods.  The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute is the lead agency on this project.

The Philippines has a long-standing cooperation with the IAEA in the area of environment and water resource management.  It also recently accepted the offer of the IAEA to be the pilot Member State for the Water Availability Enhancement Project, which is aimed at strengthening its national capacity in conducting comprehensive water resource assessments.