Lydie Evrard

Lydie Evrard
Official portrait, 2021
Born	Lydie Xuân Thuy Nguyen[1]
Nationality	French
Occupation	Engineer
Employer	International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Known for	Head of the Department of. Nuclear Safety and Security at the IAEA

Lydie Evrard, born Lydie Xuân Thuy Nguyen, is a French engineer and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security at the IAEA since 2021. She is also the Deputy Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Life

Evrard's first degree is in engineering, she has earned master's degrees in Oil and Gas Operations and Public Administration.[2]

Evrard became an engineer in 1995 when she started work at the French Ministry of Energy. Throughout her career she was involved in regulation.[2] [3]

Lydie Evrard en route to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in 2022

In April 2021 she became the Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security at the IAEA. She was also the Deputy Director General of the IAEA.[2] At the end of that year she was knighted when joining the French Legion of Honor.[1] Her department of Nuclear Safety was created in 1996 as a response to the Chernobyl nuclear accident.[4]

In September 2021 she was conducting inspections at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station following the nuclear accident there to ensure that corrective measures had been made.[5] In February 2022, she assesses the plans of the Japanese government to release contaminated water in the sea.[6] In October 2023, she confirmed the release of the waste water of the power station met safety standards.[7]

In April 2022 she led an IAEA team delivering additional equipment to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.[8]

On 29 August 2022 she was leading the safety team sent to investigate the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.[9] The overall IAEA team was led by Rafael Grossi, IAEA's Director General, and the other Deputy Director Massimo Aparo from the IAEA' safeguards department was also on the leadership team. No leaks had been reported at the plant before their arrival but shelling had occurred days before.[10]

In May 2024, she informs that further work on standards for the use of floating nuclear reactors are needed following the plans of China to use such reactors in the South China Sea.[11]

References

1. "Decree of December 31, 2021 on promotion and appointment in the national order of the Legion of Honor". www.legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
2. "Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security". www.iaea.org. 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
3. "La qualité, arme de compétitivité massive en période de crise". Les Echos (in French). 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
4. "The 25th Anniversary of the IAEA Department of Nuclear Safety and Security: Continuing to Support Member States". www.iaea.org. 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
5. "IAEA senior officials came to Japan and had a discussion toward the full-scale implementation of the review on the safety of ALPS treated water at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station". www.meti.go.jp. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
6. McCurry, Justin (2022-02-18). "UN to review Japan's plan to release Fukushima water into Pacific". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
7. Mari, Yamaguchi (2023-10-23). "IAEA officials say Fukushima's ongoing discharge of treated radioactive wastewater is going well". AP News. Retrieved 2024-07-17.
8. "IAEA Experts at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant". www.iaea.org. 2022-04-29. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
9. IAEA Imagebank (2022-08-29), Lydie Evrard (02011236), retrieved 2022-08-29
10. "Grossi: IAEA mission heading to Ukraine's besieged nuclear plant - La Prensa Latina Media". Retrieved 2022-08-29.
11. Xue, Xiaoshan; Tang, Kelly (2024-05-16). "China's plan to float nuclear reactors in South China Sea seen as risky". Voice of America. Retrieved 2024-07-18.