I"A BOARD REVIEWS IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFEGUARDS DURING 1995
Press Release
IAEA/1304
IAEA BOARD REVIEWS IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFEGUARDS DURING 1995
19960621 VIENNA, 21 June (IAEA) -- The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), meeting at Vienna from 10 to 14 June, reviewed the implementation of IAEA safeguards during 1995. The Agency found no indication of the diversion of nuclear material nor of the misuse of any facility, equipment or non-nuclear material placed under safeguards.The Agency, therefore, concluded that such items remained in peaceful use or were otherwise accounted for. However, it was still unable to verify the initial declaration made by the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea; that country was not in full compliance with its safeguards agreement.
At the end of 1995, Agency safeguards agreements were in force with 125 States and in Taiwan, province of China. Of these, 66 States and Taiwan, province of China, had nuclear activities and were inspected. Safeguards were also implemented in five States having bilateral or multilateral agreements covering specified nuclear or non-nuclear material, facilities or equipment, as well as at designated installations in the five nuclear-weapon States. During 1995, 554 nuclear facilities and other locations containing nuclear materials were inspected. A total of 2,285 inspections were carried out, requiring 10,167 person-days of inspection effort.
The Agency employs approximately 200 field inspectors for this work. The associated budget in 1995 was $88,603,000, plus a further $14 million of extrabudgetary funds contributed by eight member States. Most of the Agency's inspection work is carried out under agreements pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which was extended indefinitely in May of 1995.
In a separate action last week, the Agency's Board of Governors also agreed to establish a special committee to negotiate a legal document to be attached to the existing Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements. It would aim at giving the Agency more information about the nuclear activities of a State and increased access to relevant installations in the State. Those broader rights would strengthen the present verification system and markedly enhance the Agency's ability to detect possible clandestine undertakings.
Among its other activities in 1995, the Agency maintained, and still maintains, teams of inspectors in Iraq and in the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea. In the United States, safeguards were applied on nuclear material
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released from the United States military programme in 1995 and voluntarily placed under Agency safeguards, in addition to material already released in 1994. In addition, verification was begun on the initial inventories of nuclear materials submitted by Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine.
Although, in 1995, the Agency's safeguards activities were effective, several implementation difficulties were encountered. Those included technical difficulties with the Agency's surveillance equipment, as well as administrative restrictions imposed by several States on the designation of inspectors and on the availability of long-term multi-entry visas for them. The Agency is taking steps to resolve those problems.
The Agency's summary report on safeguards implementation in 1995 is available from its Division of Public Information (tel: 43-1-2060-21275).
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