Expanding the IAEA’s nuclear security mandate

摘要

Expansion of civilian nuclear power means that greater international cooperation is required to ensure thatnterrorist groups do not acquire nuclear and radiological materials. The global nuclear security regimenurgently needs to be strengthened; the authors write that boosting the role of the International AtomicnEnergy Agency (IAEA) is the best place to start. The IAEA established a nuclear security program in 2002.nRecently, this program誷 successes, including helping states repatriate highly enriched uranium to Russia andnthe United States, have prompted more national interest in the IAEA誷 nuclear security assistance missionsnand led to more requests for advisory and evaluation services. If given the authority, the IAEA could verify thencontinuous level of nuclear security of member states and assess and coordinate the implementation of anynactions that need to be taken. The authors write that the problem of the IAEA誷 limited authority is tied tonfundamental debates in the international community over how to deal with threats in a globalized world.nResources need to be pooled; expertise needs to be shared and centralized; and common standards need to benset, monitored, and enforced in the interests of a safer world. But not all states are convinced of this, and somenare suspicious that states advocating global governance are using their power to dominate the global securitynagenda. The authors explore the expansion of the IAEA誷 mandate and ask the pivotal question confronting theninternational community: How can states build consensus on the need to prioritize nuclear security?