What is the IAEA what is their purpose

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an international organisation dedicated to promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and prohibiting its use for military purposes, including the development of nuclear weapons. On July 29, 1957, the IAEA became an independent entity. The IAEA reports to both the UN General Assembly and Security Council, despite being founded independently of the UN by its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), headquartered in Vienna, is an intergovernmental platform for scientific and technical cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power around the world. The IAEA’s programmes promote nuclear energy, science, and technology for peaceful purposes, provide international safeguards against the misuse of nuclear technology and nuclear materials, and promote nuclear safety (including radiation protection) and nuclear security standards and their implementation.

Membership:

The procedure for joining the IAEA is straightforward. A State would normally notify the Director General of its wish to join, and the Director would then submit the application to the Board for review. The State must subsequently submit its instrument of acceptance of the IAEA Statute to the United States, which serves as the depositary Government for the IAEA Statute if the Board recommends approval and the General Conference approves the application for membership. When the State’s acceptance letter is deposited, it is considered a member. The United States subsequently tells the International Atomic Energy Agency, which then informs other IAEA Member States. Membership in the IAEA is not contingent on signing and ratifying the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

There are 173 member states in the IAEA.

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) 

Mission and Purpose:

Peaceful uses:

The IAEA’s goals, according to Article II of the IAEA Statute, are to “accelerate and expand the contribution of atomic energy to world peace, health, and prosperity,” as well as “ensure that assistance provided by it or at its request or under its supervision or control is not used to further any military purpose.” According to Article III, its key responsibilities in this field include encouraging research and development, securing or providing resources, services, equipment, and facilities for the Member States, and fostering the exchange of scientific and technical information and training.

Safeguards:

Article II of the IAEA Statute states that the Agency’s dual goals are to promote peaceful uses of atomic energy and to “ensure, to the extent that it is possible, that assistance provided by it or at its request or under its supervision or control is not used to serve any military purpose.” Article III.A.5 of the Statute empowers the IAEA to “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; and to apply safeguards, at the request of the parties, to any bilateral or multilateral agreement, or a treaty.”

This mission is carried out by the Department of Safeguards, which uses technical means to check the accuracy and completeness of governments’ nuclear declarations.

Nuclear safety:

One of the top three concerns for the IAEA is safety. In 2011, it spent 8.9% of its regular budget of 352 million euros ($469 million) on making plants safer from accidents. Its resources are allocated to the other two priorities: technological cooperation and nuclear proliferation prevention.

According to the IAEA, it redoubled its efforts in the field of nuclear safety beginning in 1986, in reaction to the nuclear reactor explosion and accident near Chernobyl, Ukraine. According to the IAEA, the same thing happened following the Fukushima tragedy in Japan.

In June 2011, the IAEA chief stated that his idea to increase worldwide safety checks on nuclear power facilities to help avoid a repeat of Japan’s Fukushima disaster had “wide support.” The IAEA has suggested peer-reviewed safety audits on reactors all throughout the world.

Conclusion:

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is the world’s leading international platform for scientific and technological collaboration in nuclear energy’s peaceful applications. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established in 1957 as an autonomous international body inside the United Nations system. Its mission is to maximise the contribution of nuclear technology to society while ensuring its peaceful use.