THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)
BACKGROUND: The UN came into existence at the beginning of the atomic age. Human beings' success in harnessing atomic energy has made the UN's objectives not only important but even indispensable. The primary purpose of the UN is to prevent war. A major war involving the use of atomic weapons would be not simply catastrophic but very probably suicidal. The second objective of the UN is to promote the economic and social welfare of peoples throughout the world. Atomic energy promises to contribute greatly to worldwide prosperity. Although "atoms for peace" has been a continuing concern of the UN itself, and although a number of organizations of the UN family, such as FAO and WHO, have been concerned with specific aspects of peaceful uses of atomic energy, it was not until 1957 that a special organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, came into being for the express purpose of accelerating and enlarging the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world.
BUDGET
The IAEA is financed by regular and voluntary contributions from member states. For 2001, the IAEA General Conference approved a regular budget of US $230 million. The target for voluntary contributions to finance the IAEA program of technical cooperation was about US $73 million for 2001.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INIS Atomindex. Bimonthly.
International Atomic Energy Agency Bulletin. Quarterly.
IAEA Bulletin . Quarterly.
Meetings on Atomic Energy. Quarterly.
Nuclear Fusion Journal. Monthly.
Nuclear Safety Review. Issued annually.
Safety Series. Manuals on the safe handling and transport of radioactive materials, monitoring of personnel, and disposal of radioactive wastes.
(For more information on IAEA publications, visit their web site http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Books/ and http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/Periodicals/ .)