International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Established in 1957 as the “ Atoms for Peace ” organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s foremost organization for scientific and technical cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Agency works with its 151 member States and multiple partners worldwide and it is mandated to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world while preventing its misuse for non-peaceful purposes.

Established in 1957 as the “ Atoms for Peace ” organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s foremost organization for scientific and technical cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The Agency works with its 151 member States and multiple partners worldwide and it is mandated to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world while preventing its misuse for non-peaceful purposes. The IAEA’s mission is guided by the interests and needs of member States, strategic plans and the vision embodied in the IAEA Statute. The Agency’s key roles contribute to international peace and security, and to the world’s Millennium Goals for social, economic and environmental development.

Underpinning the IAEA’s mission are the three main pillars of its work programme, namely: Safeguards and verification (the IAEA is the world’s nuclear inspectorate with more than four decades of verification experience); Safety and Security (the IAEA helps countries upgrade nuclear safety and security, and to prepare for and respond to emergencies); and, Science and Technology/Nuclear Technology for Development (the IAEA helps countries mobilize peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology in the areas of agriculture, human health, hydrology, industry and the environment). A principal mechanism for the delivery of services and technical support is the Technical Cooperation Programme.

Energy at IAEA

In the field of energy and especially the UN-Energy clusters, the IAEA assists its member States in strengthening the local expertise to conduct national energy assessments and design energy strategies and policies. IAEA’s assistance includes transfer of updated information and assessment tools (energy models) and training of experts from member States in the use of these tools for charting out national energy demand and supply strategies consistent with their national development objectives. In addition, the Agency supports national and regional energy assessments and topical studies on 3E (Energy-Economy-Environment), for example, assessing economic implications of energy technology choices, analysing costeffective energy options for mitigating climate change, etc. More recently, the IAEA has initiated a collaborative effort on analyzing the interdependence and linkages between Climate, Land-use, Energy and Water (CLEW). The IAEA works closely with all its member States on these programmes and interacts actively with several partners, such as UN DESA, IEA/OECD, IPCC, US-DOE, etc.

Services provided by the IAEA include:

• Providing information and analytical tools (energy models), training and technical assistance to build capacity in energy systems analysis and planning for identifying the role of different technologies in meeting their future energy needs
• Conducting 3-E (Energy-Economy-Environment) analysis of nuclear technologies and their competitors, focusing on competitive energy markets, environmental impacts and sustainable energy development,
• Guiding and supporting national and regional energy assessment