What is the WNU?

The World Nuclear University is a global partnership committed to enhancing international education and leadership in the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. The central elements of the WNU partnership are:

• The global organizations of the nuclear industry: World Nuclear Association (WNA) and World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO)
• The inter-governmental nuclear agencies: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD-NEA)
• Leading institutions of nuclear learning in some thirty countries.

The WNU was inaugurated in 2003 in a London ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower's historic Atoms for Peace initiative, the visionary proposal that gave birth to the IAEA. That UN agency is one of the four world organizations known as the WNU’s “Founding Supporters”. Within the UN system, the WNU is recognized as a "Partnership for Sustainable Development" by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).

A non-profit corporation, the WNU pursues its educational and leadership-building mission through programmes organized by the WNU Coordinating Centre (WNUCC) in London. These cooperative activities are designed to harness the strengths of partnership members in pursuit of shared purposes.

Operationally, the WNU is a public-private partnership. On the public side, the WNUCC’s multinational secretariat is composed mainly of nuclear professionals supplied by governments; the IAEA further assists with financial support for certain WNU activities. On the private side, the nuclear industry provides administrative, logistical and financial support via the WNA.