IAEA

Safeguards are activities by which the IAEA can verify that a State is living up to its international commitments not to use nuclear programmes for nuclear-weapons purposes. IAEA safeguards are an essential component of the international security system. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is the centrepiece of global efforts to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons. Under the Treaty’s Article 3, each Non-Nuclear Weapon State is required to conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA. The IAEA’s safeguards system functions as a confidence-building measure, an early warning mechanism, and the trigger that sets in motion other responses by the international community if and when the need arises. Under comprehensive safeguards agreements, inspector access is normally limited to specific locations in a nuclear facility, which correspondingly limits the Agency’s ability to detect undeclared nuclear activity or material, this means that they are sometimes unable to detect any mishaps that may occur in other locations of the facility. Weaker safeguards could lead to catastrophic incidents that will destroy countries majorly, possibly even affecting whole continents if malpractice is happening. The delegates of IAEA must come up with comprehensive resolutions in order to prevent a possible disaster in the future.

Every country in the UN follows different protocols and regulations for their nuclear facilities, which could prove to be a major problem for nuclear energy, a sensitive and volatile resource. There are many aspects to handling nuclear power, such as regulations of nuclear facilities, waste storage, decommissioning of weapons-grade materials, uranium mining, and funding for nuclear companies. It is essential to keep the production controlled and maintained as a simple mishap may lead to something that could be out of any human being’s control: such as an uncontrollable nuclear fission chain reaction. Aside from the scientific disasters, the lack of unanimity in these regulations could cause issues. An imbalance in nuclear substance production between countries would be devastating to healthy relations between member countries. If all governments agree to all regulations then there will be an equal opportunity for all, allowing all countries to have a better hold on this powerful and advantageous resource.