THE’International Agency for Atomic Energy (Iaea) was founded in 1957, within the United Nations, on the proposal of the President of the United States Eisenhower: the goal was to create a international body which promoted the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. Precisely for this reason the IAEA, whose headquarters is a Vienna, has the task of promoting thePacific use of nuclear energy, coordinate research scientific and technological, Establish safety standards. In addition, the agency is in charge of supervising the correct application of international agreements For the limitation of nuclear programs: in other words, check that countries do not use uranium for military purposes. Precisely this task sometimes places Iaea in the center of political controversy, as is currently happening due to the war between Iran and Israel and the possibility that Iran is developing a nuclear program for the enrichment of uranium.
What is the Iaea and what are his duties
The International Agency for Atomic Energy (AIEA), in English International Atomic Energy Agency (Iaea), is an intergovernmental body aimed at promoting the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The statute defines in these terms the purposes of the Agency:
The agency aims to accelerate and increase the contribution of nuclear energy to peace, health and prosperity of the whole world. It takes care of, within the limit of your means, that the help provided by you or to your question or under your direction or control is not used in such a way as to serve for military purposes.
IAEA, therefore, promotes the exchange of scientific knowledge, promotes the implementation of safety standards for the central, provides technical assistance. The Agency publishes a general relationship.
IAEA does not deal directly with the nuclear proliferationMeaning what It does not have the power to prevent states from equipping itself with nuclear weapons (For this reason there is the “Treaty of Nuclear non -proliferation”, in force since 1970). However, the agency Send inspectors To ascertain that international agreements on nuclear energy and the construction of atomic weapons are respected, to control the safety of the central or verify the consequences of any accidents.
The structure of the IAEA
The member countries of the IAEA are 180, they represent almost all the states of the world. The agency has the headquarters in Vienna and connection offices in four cities: Toronto, Geneva, New York and Tokyo. It also has a Main laboratory at Seibersdorfin Austria, and other workshops in Munich and Trieste.
The agency is led by a president, a charge currently covered by the Argentine Rafel Grossiand by a council of governors, made up of 35 people elected by the general assembly of representatives of the member countries; The employees are 2,556.
History of Iaea
The agency was born in 1957in a moment when the cold war let the outbreak of a nuclear conflict feared that could cause the destruction of the entire mankind. United States and Soviet Union had equipped themselves with hydrogen bombsalso known as thermonuclear bombs, which they had a power thousands of times higher than the first atomic bombslike the one released on Hiroshima. All over the world, the concern for nuclear war emerged. In 1953 the President of the United States, Dwight eisenhowerin the famous speech at the United Nations Assembly who went down in history as Atoms for Peace (Atoms for peace), proposed to found an international organization that controlled atomic energy. The proposal was accepted and the new agency He was officially born in 1957. Since then Iaea has always been active. The agency played an important role on some occasions, as on the occasion of the nuclear disasters of Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011).
In the 2000s, the agency found itself several times in the center of Political controversies: For example, in 2003 the United States and the United Kingdom they invaded Iraq On charges of having started the development of weapons of mass destruction, despite the fact that Iaea had asked for more time to carry out its investigations (it was then discovered that Iraq had no program for the creation of nuclear bombs or other weapons of mass destruction). The relations of the agency with the American administration stiffened. In the following years President George W. Bush accused the Iaea of being too tolerant of countries who were developing nuclear programs, especially with Iran.
Nonetheless, Iaea in 2005 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, personally withdrawn by the President, Mohammed El Baradei.
Currently The agency is at the center of controversy due to the War between Iran and Israelbecause in a report of the month of May he accused Iran of having started an uranium enrichment project, providing the Israelis a reason to attack the country, stating only later that in reality no proof shows that Tehran’s government is developing a program for the construction of atomic bombs.
