Expert Panel Says IAEA Budget Needs To Double By 2020
Written by NucNet
Thursday, 19 June 2008
NucNet News No. 50
19 Jun (NucNet): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) urgently
needs increased resources and an immediate "one-time budget increase",
a panel of international experts has recommended.
The report* - 'Reinforcing the Global Nuclear Order for Peace and Prosperity: The Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond' - contains the recommendations of a commission appointed by director-general Mohamed ElBaradei to review the agency's key areas of work and funding options.
The commission, chaired by former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo, agreed that the IAEA is an "extraordinary bargain. considering that it carries out its responsibilities of immense value to humanity at a very low cost". However, by 2020 and beyond these responsibilities will increase dramatically as mankind and the agency face new opportunities and challenges, the commission said.
Mr Zedillo told the IAEA on 2 June 2008 that there should be annual increases in the agency's regular budget, leading to a doubling of the present budget by 2020.
A one-time budget increase of 80 million euro (124 million US dollars) is needed now to refurbish the IAEA's Safeguards Analytical Laboratory and for adequate funding of the agency's Incident and Emergency Response Center, the commission said.
The commission said increases of about EUR 50 million annually in real terms might be necessary over several years.
The commission's recommendations, which will be on the agenda of the September 2008 meeting of the IAEA's board of governors, include that the IAEA should:
Promote a steady trend towards increasing the multilateral or international ownership and control of enrichment and reprocessing worldwide to stop the spread of sensitive dual-use technologies;
Work with IAEA member states to "prepare better estimates of the global resources of uranium" likely to be available at different prices as technology and exploration advance, including more rigorous assessments of the potential for recovering uranium from unconventional sources such as seawater.
Work with member states to explore world thorium resources and to coordinate research and development on thorium fuel cycles;
Encourage the establishment of shared regional nuclear plants, to help countries who want to use nuclear energy but whose electricity demand or power grid is too small to justify their own large baseload plants;
Be prepared to take a role in mediating and providing objective assessments in cases where neighbouring states disagree over the safety, security, and impact of nuclear facilities.
* The 33-page report, presented to the IAEA earlier this month, can be downloaded in pdf format from the 'news and features' section of the agency's web site (www.iaea.org).
- by John Shepherd
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