Background information

On December 8, 1953, when the President of the United States presented his "Atoms for Peace" plan to the General Assembly of the United Nations, underlining the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons, he outlined what was to lead to the creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This laid the foundation stone for an international approach to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In October 1956, the Statute of the IAEA was adopted in New York, on the sidelines of a UN meeting. The IAEA officially came into operation in July 1957, after 26 States had deposited their instruments of ratification. The statute sets out two fundamental and complementary principles: on the one hand, the purpose of the Agency is to promote...