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| Fig. 1: Director General of The IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
The IAEA is the world's central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field. [1] The forum's main purpose is working for the safe and secure uses of nuclear technology and science, all while contributing to international security and peace.
The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the rising fears that came alongside the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology at the time. [1] Since the 1970s The IAEA has supported and assisted States' national efforts to improve and establish nuclear security regimes, but their first real plan of action was made following September 11th, 2001. This first plan, approved in 2002 by the Board of Governors, aimed to protect against nuclear terrorism. Created with the plan was also a voluntary funding mechanism, The Nuclear Security Fund, which would help to implement the plan. Further Security plans were approved and released by the IAEA in 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2017. [1]
The Nuclear Security Plan for 2018-2021 was approved on September 13, 2017 by the Board of Governors located in Washington D.C. [1] This specific plan is heavily based on Programme 3.5 (Major Program for Nuclear Safety and Security) of the Agency's Programme and Budget for 2018-2019. [1] The plan covers, in detail, the Agency's nuclear security activities for the given time period, all of which are proposed to be undertaken using voluntary contributions to the Nuclear Security Fund. [1]
With this specific plan, the Agency has noted that it will build upon prior experiences and developments from the Nuclear Security Plan for 2014-2017. The plan's goal is to keep assisting the States' efforts to establish sustainable and effective national nuclear security regimes.
With this report, Director General of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano of Japan (pictured in Fig.1), will produce annual reports covering the implementation of the plan in accordance with GC resolutions. These reports will note crucial developments in nuclear security and bring forth any lessons learned from the implementation of the Plan. [1]
The Nuclear Security Plan for 2018-2021's main objectives are:
To contribute to global efforts to achieve effective nuclear security, by establishing comprehensive nuclear security guidance and, upon request, promoting its use through peer reviews and advisory services and capacity building, including education and training;
To assist in adherence to, and implementation of, relevant international legal instruments, and in strengthening the international cooperation and coordination of assistance; and
To play the central role and enhance international cooperation in nuclear security, in response to the priorities of Member States expressed through the decisions and resolutions of the Agency's policy-making organs. [1]
The Plan includes proposed projects to be undertaken in the given time period. The projects are broken into sub-sections within the plan, each including a task focusing on overall management. [1] The five main sections of the Plan include: C.1. Priority and cross-cutting issues, C.2. Information Management, C.3. Nuclear Security of Materials and Associated Facilities, C.4. Nuclear Security of Materials out of Regulatory Control, and C.5. Programme Development and International Cooperation. [1] All of these sections include ample information and detail regarding its specific task.
© Emma Knaus. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] "Nuclear Security Plan 2018-2021," International Atomic Energy Agency, GC(61)/24, September 2017.
