International Atomic Energy Agency

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, internally often referred to as "The Agency") was established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957. It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower envisioned, in his "Atoms for Peace" speech before the UN General Assembly in 1953, the creation of this international body to control and develop the use of atomic energy. The organization and its Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize announced on 7 October 2005.

The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Additional facilities are located in Seibersdorf near Vienna; Monaco; Toronto; and Tokyo.

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History

The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The IAEA's programmes encourage the development of the peaceful application of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against its misuse, and facilitate the application of safety measures in its use. IAEA expanded its nuclear safety efforts in response to the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

The IAEA was headed by Hans Blix from 1981 to 1997, who became unusually well-known because of the 2002-2003 search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The current head of the organization is the Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei. At the 49th General Conference, ElBaradei was confirmed as Director General until 2009.

With the increase of nuclear proliferation in the 1990s, IAEA tasks began to include inspections and investigations of suspected violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty under the mandate of the United Nations; however, it can only refer the matter to the UN Security Council, which has the monopoly on UN coercion measures. Little has changed in the organizational structure of IAEA; and though its inspection results tend to attract a lot of coverage, the matter of IAEA reform does not.

In a speech to the National Defense University on February 11, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed: "No state under investigation for proliferation violations should be allowed to serve on the IAEA Board of Governors — or on the new special committee. And any state currently on the Board that comes under investigation should be suspended from the Board. The integrity and mission of the IAEA depends on this simple principle: Those actively breaking the rules should not be entrusted with enforcing the rules." [1]

The remarks were seen as a comment on the Khan affair, which triggered calls for an IAEA investigation of Pakistan, a country, which at that time was included in the organization's Board of Governors.

The Agency and Director General Mohamed ElBaradei were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. ElBaradei said in his speech that only 1% of the money spent on developing new weapons would be enough to feed the entire world.

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Structure and Function

The IAEA is a non-subsidiary body of the United Nations (UN). The IAEA is not under direct control of any UN body, but reports to both the General Assembly and the Security Council. The IAEA’s structure and function is defined by its founding document: the IAEA’s Statue. The IAEA had three main bodies: the Board of Governors, the General Conference, and the Secretariat (Statute 2004).

The Board of Governors is one of two policy making bodies of the IAEA. The Board consists of 13 members designated by the outgoing Board and 22 members elected by the General Conference. The outgoing Board designates the ten members who are the most advanced in atomic energy technology and the remaining three most advanced members from any of the following areas that are not represented by the first ten: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East and South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, and the Far East. These members are designated for one year terms. The General Conference elects 22 members from the remaining nations to two year terms. Eleven are elected each year. The 22 elected members must also represent a stipulated geographic diversity (Statute 2004). The current Board members are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela, and Yemen (Board of Governors 2003).

The Board, in its five yearly meetings, is responsible for making most of the policy of the IAEA. The Board makes recommendations to the General Conference on IAEA activities and budget, is responsible for publishing IAEA standards and appoints the Director General subject to General Conference approval (IAEA Fundamentals 2005). Board members each receive one vote. Budget matters require a two- thirds majority. All other matters require only a simple majority. The simple majority also has the power to stipulate issues that will thereafter require a two- thirds majority. Two- thirds of all Board members must be present to call a vote (IAEA Board of Governors 1989).

The General Conference (GC) is the IAEA’s lesser policy making body. The GC is made up of all 139 member states. The GC meets once a year, in September, to approve the actions and budgets passed on from the Board of Governors. The GC also approves the nominee for Director General and requests reports from the Board on issues in question (Statute 2004). Each member receives one vote. Issues of budget, Statute amendment and suspension of a member’s privileges require a two- thirds majority and all other issues require a simple majority. Similar to the Board, the GC can, by simple majority, designate issues to require a two- thirds majority. The GC elects a President at each annual in order to facilitate an effective meeting. The President only serves for the duration of the session (Statute 2004).

The main function of the GC is to serve as a forum for debate on current issues and policies. Any of the other IAEA organs, the Director General, the Board and member states can table issues to be discussed by the GC (IAEA Fundamentals 2005). This function of the GC is almost identical to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

The Secretariat is the professional staff of the IAEA. The Secretariat is headed by the Director General. The Director General, currently Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei, is responsible for enforcement of the actions passed by the Board of Governors and the CG. The Director is selected by the Board and approved by the CG for renewable four year terms. The Director General oversees six departments that do the actual work in carrying out the policies of the IAEA: Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Safety and Security, Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Safeguards, Technical Cooperation, and Management. The Director General has minimal statutory power outside of the dictates of the Board of Governors (IAEA Fundamentals 2005). The Director can act as a spokesperson for the IAEA thus gaining power not described or anticipated in the founding documents of the IAEA. Dr. El-Baradei, together with the IAEA as an institution, won the 2005 Noble Peace Prize which gave him a further measure of prestige and power.

The IAEA budget is two-part. The regular budget funds most activities of the IAEA and is assessed to each member nation. The United States is assessed 25% of the regular budget (Government Accountability 1998, 5). The Technical Cooperation Fund is funded by voluntary contributions with a general target in the $70 million range (IAEA Fundamentals 2005, 2).

The process of joining the IAEA is fairly simple. A State must notify the Director General of its desire to join. The Director then submits the State to the Board for consideration. If the state is approved by the Board, the GC must then consider the State. When the State receives final approval for membership, it must then submit its signed acceptance of the IAEA’s Statute. The State is considered a member when its acceptance letter is deposited; the IAEA’s other members are subsequently notified of the new member (Process 2004).

The IAEA exists to pursue “safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear sciences and technology” (Pillars 2005). The IAEA pursues this mission with three main functions: inspections of existing nuclear systems to ensure peaceful use, information and standards to ensure the stability of nuclear facilities, and as a hub for the sciences seeking peaceful applications of nuclear technology.


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IAEA and Iran

In February 2003 Mohamed ElBaradei traveled to Iran with a team of inspectors to investigate Iran's nuclear program. By November, Mr. ElBaradei stated that there was "no evidence" that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons. On December 18, 2003 Iran signed the Additional Protocol at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, and acted in accord with its provisions pending completion of ratification of the protocol. [2].

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on August 9, 2005. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. [3].

In September 2005 the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded in a report that Iran was still many years away from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. [4].

On January 9, 2006 Iran resumed certain aspects of nuclear energy research and development in spite of international displeasure and pressure from the United States, the European Union and Russia. [5] [6] [7]

On February 4, 2006 the Board of the International Atomic Energy Agency decided ("resolved") to request the IAEA director-general, Mohamed ElBaradei, to make a report concerning Iran to the United Nations Security Council following the March 2006 meeting of the IAEA Board. This resolution was decided by a vote of 27-3 (27 member nations voted for the resolution, 3, Cuba, Syria and Venezuela, voted against the resolution, and the remaining 5, Algeria, Libya, Indonesia, South Africa and Belarus, abstained). [8]

The 35 member states represented on the IAEA Board of Governors for 2005-2006 are Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Republic of, Libya, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela, and Yemen. Image:IAEA HQ.jpg

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Notable past and present members

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See also

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External links

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Works Cited

Government Accountability Office, The. 1998. Nuclear nonproliferation. At <http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/n598184.pdf> 14 April 2006.

IAEA. 1989. IAEA Board of Governors. At <http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/Board/bgrules1.html> 15 April 2006.

IAEA. 2003. Board of Governors. At <http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/Board/index.html>. 17 April 2006.

IAEA. 2004. Process of becoming a member state of the IAEA. At <http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/MemberStates/process.html>. 16 April 2006.

IAEA. 2004. Statute of the IAEA. At <http://www.iaea.org/About/statute_text.html>. 15 April 2006.

IAEA 2005. IAEA Fundamentals. At <http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/iaea-e.pdf> 15 April 2006.

IAEA. 2005. Pillars of nuclear cooperation. At <http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/index.html>. 15 April 2006.

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