International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA)
Organismo Internacional de Energia Atómica (OIEA)
Mezdunarodnoe Agenstvo po Atomnoj Energii

Founded

1957-07-29

History

Aims

Foster, encourage and advise on development of peaceful uses of atomic energy worldwide; accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity; as far as possible ensure that assistance provided, requested, supervised or controlled is not used in such a way as to further any military purpose; promote wider use of radioisotopes and radiation sources in research, industry, agriculture, medicine and hydrology.

Under Article III (Functions) of the Statute, as amended 1 Jun 1973, the Agency is authorized to:

• Encourage and assist research on, and development and practical application of, atomic energy for peaceful uses throughout the world; act as an intermediary for the purposes of securing performance of services or supplying of materials, equipment or facilities by one member of the Agency for another; perform any operation or service useful in research on, or development or practical application of, atomic energy for peaceful purposes;
• Make provision, for materials, services, equipment and facilities to meet the needs of research on, and development and practical application of, atomic energy for peaceful purposes, including production of electric power, with due consideration for the needs of under-developed areas of the world;
• Foster exchange of scientific and technical information on peaceful uses of atomic energy;
• Encourage exchange and training of scientists and experts in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy;
• Establish and administer safeguards designed to ensure that special fissionable and other materials, services, equipment, facilities and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its supervision or control are not used in such a way as to further any military purpose; apply safeguards, at the request of the parties, to any bilateral or multilateral arrangement, or at the request of a state, to any of that state's activities in the field of atomic energy;
• Establish or adopt, in consultation and, where appropriate, in collaboration with the competent organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies concerned, standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life and property (including such standards for labour conditions); provide for application of these standards to own operations as well as to operations making use of materials, services, equipment, facilities and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its control or supervision; provide for application of these standards, at the request of the parties, to operations under any bilateral or multilateral arrangement, or, at the request of a state, to any of that state's activities in the field of atomic energy;
• Acquire or establish any facilities, plant and equipment useful in carrying out authorized functions, whenever the facilities, plant, and equipment otherwise available in the area concerned are inadequate or available only on terms deemed unsatisfactory.

In carrying out these functions, the Agency has to:

• Conduct its activities in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations to promote peace and international cooperation, and in conformity with policies of the United Nations furthering the establishment of safeguarded worldwide disarmament and in conformity with any international agreements entered into pursuant to such policies;
• Establish control over the use of special fissionable materials received by the Agency, in order to ensure that these materials are used only for peaceful purposes;
• Allocate its resources in such a manner as to secure efficient utilization and the greatest possible general benefit in all areas of the world, bearing in mind the special needs of the under-developed areas of the world;
• Submit reports on activities annually to the General Assembly of the United Nations and, when appropriate, to the Security Council: if in connection with the activities of the Agency questions arise that are within the competence of the Security Council the Agency has to notify the Security Council, as the organ bearing the main responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, and may also take the measures open to it under the Statute;
• Submit reports to the Economic and Social Council and other organs of the United Nations on matters with the competence of these organs.

Events

Activities

Structure

Languages

Staff

Finance

Relations with Inter-Governmental Organizations

United Nations bodies, including: B-XB0971 - FAO; B-XB2183 - ILO; E-XE1118 - Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); E-XE4161 - UNEP; B-XB3383 - UNESCO; B-XE3386 - UNIDO; E-XJ0813 - United Nations Group on the Information Society (UNGIS); E-XM6677 - United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA); B-XB3548 - WHO. Permanent observer status with: B-XB3635 - World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Observer to: F-XM3758 - Generation IV International Forum (GIF); E-XJ2725 - Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism (GICNT); F-XM3757 - International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation (IFNEC). Member of: E-XJ5752 - UN-OCEANS; E-XJ2271 - UN-Water. Partner of: F-XF4234 - Regional Seas Programme. Represented on: E-XE4062 - United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB). Memorandum of Understanding signed with: B-XB0462 - World Customs Organization (WCO).

Entitled to be represented at sessions of the General Conference: D-XD8572 - African Union (AU); D-XD0031 - Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean; D-XD2901 - Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA); H-XD0666 - European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom); D-XM1807 - ITER International Fusion Energy Organization (ITER Organization); D-XD2903 - League of Arab States (LAS); E-XE0816 - Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA); F-XJ7396 - Foro Iberoamericano de Organismos Reguladores Radiológicos y Nucleares (FORO). Also links with:

• C-XC1440 - Bureau international des poids et mesures (BIPM);
• D-XD9187 - Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC);
• E-XE5314 - International Energy Agency (IEA);
• F-XC2849 - Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR);
• D-XD5835 - Latin American Energy Organization;
• E-XE4854 - Middle Eastern Regional Radioisotope Centre for the Arab Countries (MERRCAC);
• C-XC4129 - Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC);
• C-XC3038 - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC);
• E-XE3237 - Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO);
• D-XD0319 - Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME).

Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations

Rule 13 of the Rules on the Consultative Status of Non-Governmental Organizations provides for the Director-General to submit annually to the General Conference a list of organizations to which consultative status has been granted - as of 2009, 10 nongovernmental organizations:

• D-XD0590 - nucleareurope;
• B-XB1149 - International Air Transport Association (IATA);
• B-XB1490 - International Chamber of Commerce (ICC);
• E-XC1567 - International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU);
• E-XC1568 - International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP);
• A-XA1710 - International Co-operative Alliance (ICA);
• B-XB2314 - International Organization for Standardization (ISO);
• G-XG8787 - Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF);
• B-XB3510 - World Energy Council (WEC);
• E-XE3539 - World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA).

Organizations invited to send observers to General Conference in 2009 (38):

• G-XG3322 - American Nuclear Society (ANS);
• Canadian Nuclear Association;
• Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors;
• Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors;
• G-XJ3959 - Contractors International Group on Nuclear Liability (CIGNL);
• Council on Radionuclides and Radiopharmaceuticals;
• G-XJ3960 - Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy (EFN);
• D-XD5330 - European Nuclear Society (ENS);
• D-XD0834 - European Physical Society (EPS);
• German Atomic Forum;
• Health Physics Society;
• Institute of Nuclear Materials Management;
• International Economic Association for the Organization of Cooperation in the Production and Supply of Equipment and for the Provision of Technical Assistance in the Construction of Nuclear Power Plants;
• D-XC4518 - International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA);
• C-XJ3963 - International Irradiation Association (iiA);
• F-XD7006 - International Nuclear Energy Academy;
• C-XC4313 - International Nuclear Law Association (INLA);
• F-XE2395 - International Nuclear Societies Council (INSC);
• B-XC2311 - International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP);
• C-XC2390 - International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA);
• B-XB2565 - International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists (ISRRT);
• B-XB2566 - International Society of Radiology (ISR);
• C-XJ0788 - International Source Suppliers and Producers Association (ISSPA);
• A-XM2085 - International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC);
• C-XD7418 - International Union of Radioecology (IUR);
• G-XM1385 - James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS);
• Korean Nuclear Society;
• Moroccan Association of Nuclear Engineers;
• Nuclear Energy Institute;
• D-XD6907 - Pacific Nuclear Council (PNC);
• R-XR4374 - Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta;
• US Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF);
• G-XG1535 - Verification Research, Training and Information Centre (VERTIC);
• C-XD2065 - World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO);
• H-XD7388 - World Council of Nuclear Workers (WONUC);
• C-XD0946 - World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WFNMB);
• C-XD5843 - World Nuclear Association (WNA);
• E-XE3734 - World Nuclear Transport Institute (WNTI).

Publications

Members

Type I Classification

Type II Classification

Subjects ^*

• Fundamental Sciences → Radiation
• Resources → Energy
• Social Activity → Agency
• Economics → Resource Utilization
• International Relations → United Nations

UN Sustainable Development Goals ^**

UIA Org ID

XB1383