To most people, “atomic energy” conjures up horrific visions of mushroom clouds or, at best, huge concrete structures which house nuclear power plants. Since there is much more to nuclear energy than meets the eye, it is considered to be timely to throw some light on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the versatility in the utilization of nuclear technologies.

Creation of the IAEA

It is recognized that one of US President Eisenhower’s most significant legacies stems from his management of the nuclear question. In a speech to the UN General Assembly on 8 December 1953, entitled “Atoms for Peace”, the President made a pledge before the whole world that the United States (US) would “devote its entire heart and mind to finding the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life”.

Largely as a result of the President’s address, the IAEA was created in 1957, within the UN system, to contribute to global peace, development and security by helping to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and fostering safe and peaceful uses of nuclear technologies for human development.

Thus, the Agency’s contribution to peace is two-fold, namely, (a) to verify and ensure that, worldwide, nuclear materials are used exclusively for peaceful purposes, and (b) to participate in poverty alleviation and socio-economic development in developing countries through the application of nuclear science and technology in health, agriculture, energy, environment and other fields.

Non proliferation Treaty

The idea of a treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons to more countries was supported unanimously by the UN General Assembly in 1961. At that time, only Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the US had tested nuclear weapons. Then China did in 1964. These became the five States permitted by the NPT to have nuclear weapons – pending future negotiations on nuclear disarmament. 184 countries adhered to the NPT, promised not to have nuclear weapons and agreed to accept inspections by the IAEA to verify that they are carrying out their promises. However, India, Pakistan and Israel refused to join the treaty and are now known to have nuclear weapons. NorthKorea withdrew from the treaty.

The IAEA carries out regular inspections in nuclear installations in countries which have adhered to the NPT Agreements to ensure that nuclear materials are not being diverted to military use. It has been estimated that at least 20 countries would have had nuclear weapons by now without these inspections.

However, countries endowed with nuclear weapons have not stopped perfecting these devices. There are tens of thousands of nuclear weapons in the world, over 90 % of which are in the possession of Russia and the US. Most are several times more devastating than the one used on Hiroshima.

The nuclear arsenals of Russia and the US are armed and targeted, waiting for three short computer signals to fire. The use of a nuclear weapon could take place by accident or design, by States or terrorists. These weapons represent an unacceptable risk to the planet.

In spite of the undisputed success of safeguards inspections and the NPT, it is unfortunate that other international agreements to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction did not meet with the same degree of success. As a typical example, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) of September 1996, which aims to end nuclear weapons tests and development, was ratified by only a few countries and even rejected by the US Senate in 1999.

Use for human needs

In exchange for their adherence to Safeguards Agreements and their rejection of nuclear weapons, developing Member States of the IAEA were promised assistance in the development and use of nuclear techniques for the betterment of their population. It is a fact that, in many instances nuclear techniques have distinct advantages over conventional means to address numerous development problems.

Shortly after its establishment in 1957, the IAEA started to bring its contribution towards poverty alleviation and socio-economic development through the transfer of nuclear technologies in medicine, agriculture, industry and other fields to developing Member States.

In the field of medicine, diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy were introduced and developed in several countries. Thus, nuclear applications in medicine contribute significantly to prevention, diagnosis and cure.

Plant breeding and pest control have had dramatic impacts on the livelihood of the peasant population of several developing countries. Thus, the eradication of the tsetse fly through the use of the Sterile Insect Technique on Zanzibar has led to a several-fold increase in the cattle population on the island.

Similarly, the development of disease-resistant varieties of coconuts in Ghana and high-yielding varieties of rice in Bangladesh have resulted in appreciable increases in the production of these crops. The use of nuclear techniques in agriculture extend to several other fields, including food preservation through irradiation, soil fertility and crop production, amongst many others.

Today more than one billion people lack access to a steady supply of clean water. The Millenium Declaration resolved to “halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water” by 2015 and to stop the unsustainable exploitation of ground water. Nuclear techniques in isotope hydrology play an important role in addressing this problem. Nuclear techniques have become a basic tool to understand and manage water resources in a sustainable way. Nuclear techniques are also used in other fields, notably the non-destructive testing of metal structures, radiation sterilization, water desalination and pollution monitoring.

Nuclear electricity

With the dramatic increase in the price of oil, coupled with increasing awareness about the disastrous medium-term effect of global warming, attention is being focused on nuclear electricity. Currently, nuclear power plants account for about 16 % of the total electricity generation in the world. However, this percentage is much higher in certain countries, such as Lithuania (78%) or France (77%). The African country with nuclear power plants is South Africa (7 %).

The weight of leadership

The success of an organization largely depends upon the person at the top. The IAEA has been fortunate enough to have very competent Directors General ever since its inception.

Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian, succeeded Hans Blix in 1997 as Director General of the IAEA. He has expressed his commitment to contain the spread of nuclear weapons, to support the elimination of the nuclear arsenals that exist, and to agressively pursue the use of nuclear technologies to meet basic human needs. Like his predecessor, he opposed military intervention in Iraq. The world is a safer place with a leader of his stature at the head of the IAEA. The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohamed ElBaradei is well deserved and timely.

Dr Yousuf MAUDARBOCUS