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International Atomic Energy Agency
The IAEA flag
Org type	Organization
Acronyms	IAEA
Head	Yukiya Amano
Status	Active
Established	1957
Headquarters	Vienna, Austria
Website	www.iaea.org

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology and atomic power, and to inhibit its use for military nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957. Though the IAEA was established independently of the United Nations (U.N.), and through its own international treaty, the "IAEA Statute", the IAEA does report to both the U.N. General Assembly and to the Security Council of the United Nations.

The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The IAEA has two "Regional Safeguards Offices" which are located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA also has two liaison offices which are located in New York City, New York, and in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, the IAEA has four laboratories located in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria, in Monaco, and in Trieste, Italy.

Ever since its creation, the IAEA has served as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology and atomic power (nuclear power) worldwide. The programs of the IAEA encourage the development of the peaceful applications of nuclear technology, provide international safeguards against misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials, and both facilitate and encourage the application of safety measures in the use of nuclear technology.

The IAEA and its Director-General, Mohamed ElBaradei, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded on October 7, 2005. Since December 2009, the Director-General of IAEA has been Yukiya Amano.

Contents 1 History 2 Structure and function 2.1 General 2.2 Board of Governors 2.3 General Conference 2.4 Secretariat 3 Membership 4 List of Directors General 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Notes 6.2 Works cited 7 External links

[edit] History

In 1953, the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, proposed the creation of an international body to both regulate and promote the peaceful use of atomic power (nuclear power), in his "Atoms for Peace" address to the U.N. General Assembly.^[1] In September 1954, the United States proposed to the U.N. General Assembly the creation of an international agency to take control of the fissile materials that were being used to create nuclear reactors. This agency would establish a kind of "nuclear bank".

The Federal Government of the United States also called for an international scientific conference on all of the peaceful aspects of nuclear power. By the month of November 1954, it had become clear that the Soviet Union would reject any international custody of fissile material, but that a clearing house for nuclear transactions might be possible. From August 8 to August 20, 1955, the United Nations held the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland. During 1956, an IAEA Statute Conference was held to draft the founding documents for the IAEA, and the IAEA Statute was completed at a conference in 1957.

Beginning in 1986, in response to the nuclear reactor explosion and disaster near Chernobyl, Ukraine, the IAEA redoubled its efforts in the field of nuclear safety.

The IAEA was headed for most of two decades by the former Swedish Foreign Minister Hans Blix, who served as the Director-General from 1981 to 1997. The next Director-General after Mr. Blix was Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt, who served until November of 2009.

The both the IAEA and its Director-General, Mr. ElBaradei, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. In ElBaradei's acceptance speech in Stockholm, he stated that only one percent of the money spent on developing new weapons would be enough to feed the entire world, and that -- if we hope to escape self-destruction -- then nuclear weapons should have no place in our collective conscience, and no role in our security.^[2]

On July 2, 2009, Mr. Yukiya Amano of Japan was elected as the Director-General for the IAEA ^[3], defeating Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa and Luis E. Echávarri‎ of Spain. On 3 July 2009, the Board of Governors voted to appoint Yukiya Amano "by acclamation," and IAEA General Conference in September 2009 approved. He took office on 1 December 2009.^{[4] [5] [6]}

[edit] Structure and function

[edit] General

The IAEA's mission is guided by the interests and needs of Member States, strategic plans and the vision embodied in the IAEA Statute (see below). Three main pillars - or areas of work - underpin the IAEA's mission: Safety and Security; Science and Technology; and Safeguards and Verification.

The IAEA as an autonomous organization is not under direct control of the U.N., but the IAEA does report to both the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council of the U.N. Unlike most other specialized international agencies, the IAEA does not do much of its work with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, but rather directly with the Security Council. The structure and functions of the IAEA are defined by its founding document, the IAEA Statute (see below). The IAEA has three main branches: the Board of Governors, the General Conference, and the Secretariat.

In 2004, the IAEA developed a Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT). The PACT responds to the needs of developing countries to establish, to improve, or to expand radiotherapy treatment programs. The IAEA is raising money to help save lives and to reduce suffering of cancer victims.[1]

The IAEA exists to pursue the "safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear sciences and technology" (Pillars 2005). The IAEA executes this mission with three main functions: the inspection of existing nuclear facilities to ensure their peaceful use, the delivery of information and standards to ensure the stability of nuclear facilities, and as a hub for the various sciences (e.g. biology) that seek peaceful applications of nuclear technology.

To enhance the sharing of information and experience among IAEA members concerning the seismic safety of nuclear facilities, in 2008 the IAEA established the International Seismic Safety Center. This center is establishing Safety Standards and providing for their application in relation to site selection, site evaluation and seismic design.

[edit] Board of Governors

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, 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). The current Board members are: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Romania, Russian Federation, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela (IAEA Board of Governors 2009–2010).

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).

[edit] General Conference

The General Conference is made up of all 151 member states. It meets once a year, typically 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). 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).

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 Primer). This function of the GC is almost identical to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

[edit] Secretariat

The Secretariat is the professional and general service staff of the IAEA. The Secretariat is headed by the Director General. The Director General is responsible for enforcement of the actions passed by the Board of Governors and the GC. The Director General is selected by the Board and approved by the GC 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 IAEA budget is two-part. The regular budget funds most activities of the IAEA and is assessed to each member nation (€296 million in 2009). The Technical Cooperation Fund is funded by voluntary contributions with a general target in the $85 million range.

[edit] Membership

The process of joining the IAEA is fairly simple.^[7] A State must notify the Director General of its desire to join. The Director then submits the application to the Board for consideration. If the application is approved by the Board, the GC must then consider the application. 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; and the other IAEA members are notified of the new member.

The IAEA has 151 member states. Most U.N. Member countries and Vatican City are parties of the IAEA.

Membership has been approved by the IAEA General Conference and will take effect once the State deposits the necessary legal instruments with the IAEA:

•  Cape Verde
•  Papua New Guinea
•  Rwanda
•  Togo

Not participating as yet are small countries having no interest in nuclear technology or nuclear power:

Have withdrawn from the IAEA:

•  North Korea (1974–1994)

[edit] List of Directors General

Name	Nationality	Duration
W. Sterling Cole	United States	1957–1961
Sigvard Eklund	Sweden	1961–1981
Hans Blix	Sweden	1981–1997
Mohamed ElBaradei	Egypt	1997–Nov 2009
Yukiya Amano	Japan	Dec 2009–Present

[edit] See also

• Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
• IAEA Areas
• Institute of Nuclear Materials Management
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
• Programme budgeting
• Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy
• Proliferation Security Initiative
• United Nations Atomic Energy Commission
• Nuclear Energy Agency
• International Energy Agency
• European Organization for Nuclear Research

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] Works cited

• Board of Governors rules
• Board of Governors
• Statute of the IAEA
• IAEA Primer
• Pillars of nuclear cooperation 2005
• Nobel Lecture
• Radiation Protection of Patients

[edit] External links

• IAEA website
• NUCLEUS - The IAEA Nuclear Knowledge and Information Portal
• Official IAEA YouTube channel
• In Focus : IAEA and Iran
• IAEA Bulletin
• History of the International Atomic Energy Agency : the first forty years, David Fischer, 1997, ISBN 92-0-102397-9
• A Pictorial History of "Atoms for Peace", ISBN 978-92-0-103807-4
• Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) - Comprehensive Cancer Control Information and Fighting Cancer in Developing Countries
• Video Interviews with Diplomats and NGOs from Non-Proliferation Treaty Conferences concerning nuclear non-proliferation
• International Nuclear Library Network (INLN)

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Wangari Muta Maathai	Nobel Peace Prize Laureate with Mohamed ElBaradei 2005	Succeeded by Grameen Bank and Muhammad Yunus

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