IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an independent international organization with headquarters in Vienna and a membership of 130 states. The IAEA’s most important task in the security policy sector is the verification of international agreements prohibiting the military use of nuclear energy, the most prominent such agreements being the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). To fulfill this task, the IAEA concludes Safeguards Agreements with the individual states and undertakes about 2,500 inspections per year. Concerning the future of the organization, one thing seems certain: the nuclear agenda will rather grow than shrink. The risks of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants will remain; the latter may very well be aggravated through a rising demand for electricity, especially in developing countries, on the one hand, and the growing destruction of the planet’s eco-system on the other. Keywords: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; safeguards agreements; security policy sector