• Energy Minister to travel to Vienna By Asiri Fernando A high-level delegation from Sri Lanka is expected to leave for Vienna this week to attend the upcoming 66th General Conference of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), led by Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera, The Sunday Morning learns. The visit comes in the wake of a crippling energy crisis which had exacerbated the ongoing economic crisis faced by the Island nation. In August, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated that Sri Lanka should not depend on old economic models and seek new solutions to the crisis, calling for Sri Lanka to explore nuclear energy options. According to the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Board (SLAEB) Prof. S.R.D. Rosa, who is also a part of the delegation, the IAEA is expected to hand over a report compiled by a team of experts who visited Sri Lanka earlier this year to assess the national energy environment and make recommendations for possible atomic energy solutions. Prof Rosa told The Sunday Morning the report drafted by the expert team that visited Sri Lanka has been accepted by the IAEA and will be presented to Minister Wijesekera. “When a country seeks atomic power, there are three phases to follow. We are at phase one. Once we get the report, the minister will have to submit it to the Cabinet of ministers. Once accepted by the Cabinet, Sri Lanka will need to declare our desire to obtain atomic power, then we move to phase two, where we are categorized as an ‘embarkation country’, and we need to proceed from that point” Prof Rosa explained, adding that atomic energy may be good option to replace the base load - in electricity generation as Sri Lanka begins to move away from the use of Coal and other fossil fuels, with the incorporation of renewable energy sources to the national grid.