The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is dedicated to the prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation and the sharing of safe and secure nuclear technologies. However, with the events of recent months, the IAEA has increasingly come to be associated with its role in nuclear verification, particularly in relation to the resumption of inspections in Iraq. The IAEA؟s verification or safeguards mandate relates to the verification of compliance with non-proliferation obligations undertaken by states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Nevertheless, the IAEA experience in Iraq in the early 1990s, and the discovery there of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, made it clear that the IAEA verification system was neither sufficiently robust nor comprehensive. The IAEA was then strengthened with the 1997 Protocol Agreement and is now able to provide credible assurance about the diversion of declared nuclear material and about the absence of undeclared nuclear material. Despite the end of the Cold War, non-proliferation and disarmament challenges remain in all categories of weapons of mass destruction. The most important challenge is to develop alternative approaches to regional and international security that do not include nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction as part of the security portfolio.

This handbook is a practical aid to legislative drafting that brings together, for the first time, model texts of provisions covering all aspects of nuclear law in a consolidated form. Organized along the same lines as the Handbook on Nuclear Law, published by the IAEA in 2003, and containing updated material on new legal developments, this publication represents an important companion resource for the development of new or revised nuclear legislation, as well as for instruction in the fundamentals of nuclear law. It will be particularly useful for those Member States embarking on new or expanding existing nuclear programmes.

Transforming the energy system is at the core of the dedicated sustainable development goal on energy within the new United Nations development agenda. This publication explores the possible contribution of nuclear energy to addressing the issues of sustainable development through a large selection of indicators. It reviews the characteristics of nuclear power in comparison with alternative sources of electricity supply, according to economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainability. The findings summarized in this publication will help the reader to consider, or reconsider, the contribution that can be made by the development and operation of nuclear power plants in contributing to more sustainable energy systems.

Considers amendments to agreements with Indonesia, Spain, and Switzerland concerning civilian use of nuclear energy.

Reviews the political and social context for nuclear power generation, the nuclear fuel cycles and their implications for the environment.