Hope over fear. The establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency

President Eisenhower's ''Atoms for Peace'' speech in 1953 started a process that led to the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This study analyses the negotiations of the Statute of the Agency. It focuses on how the Agency's scope of action regarding safeguards was negotiated. The Statute is seen as a reflection of the dual purpose of the new Agency to promote peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to control that peaceful nuclear activities receiving IAEA assistance are not diverted to military purposes. On one hand, the countries receiving assistance from the Agency accepted a degree of international control that represented a breakthrough in international relations. On the other hand, many countries strongly resented controls. Consequently, compromises had to be made in the course of the negotiations in order to reach a consensus. Thus, although the IAEA was established as a competent and technical body, the underlying compromises meant that its scope of actions was restricted. 6 refs