International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was founded in 1957 as an autonomous international organisation. It reports regularly to the United Nations General Assembly and has a duty to appeal directly to the United Nations Security Council in the event of a threat to international peace (Statute, Article III B 4). Germany has been a member of the organisation since 1957, the year it was founded, and is permanently represented on its monitoring and governing body - the IAEA Board of Governors.

Representatives from all its 151 current member states attend the IAEA's annual General Conference. The Board meets once a quarter, while the Programme and Budget Committee (PBC) and the Technical Assistance and Cooperation Committee (TACC) each convene every six months.

The IAEA's main focus is on nuclear power, nuclear safety and security, and safeguards.

Nuclear power:

The IAEA promotes the peaceful use of nuclear power at an international level by means of conferences, coordinated research contracts, databases, as well as producing comprehensive documentation and publications.

It sends in its own experts to provide developing countries with assistance, e.g. nuclear power applications in the fields of medicine, water and agriculture, as well as funding scholarships and training courses, etc.

Nuclear safety and security:

The IAEA supports global monitoring cooperation and harmonisation by producing safety standards and recommendations on reactor safety, radiation protection, nuclear waste management, the transportation of radioactive substances, and the security of nuclear facilities and nuclear materials. It fosters the physical protection of nuclear material against misuse, with the aim, for instance, of combatting nuclear smuggling.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment is represented on the Commission on Safety Standards (CSS), as well as on the NUSSC (nuclear safety), WASSC (waste), RASSC (radiation protection) and TRANSSC (transport) committees.

Furthermore the German Federal Ministry for the Environment is also involved in the Agency's development of the Nuclear Security Guidelines series.

Safeguards:

The IAEA monitors both the use and the location of nuclear materials in nuclear facilities as per the terms of the Safeguards Agreement entered into with its member states. The aim is to ensure that the facilities monitored confine their activities solely to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.