International Atomic Energy Agency

The IAEA flag

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, internally often referred to as "The Agency"), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, 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 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 currently 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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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]

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See also

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External links


Preceded by:
Wangari Maathai 		Nobel Peace Prize
2005 		Succeeded by:
incumbent