Vienna: In 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) applied safeguards for 190 States with safeguards agreements in force, according to the Safeguards Statement and Background for 2024, published recently. This involved performing more than 3,000 in-field verification activities at over 1,300 nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities around the world.
According to EMM, through safeguards, the IAEA verifies States' commitments to use nuclear material and technology only for peaceful purposes. The annual Safeguards Statement presents the IAEA's findings and conclusions from undertaking its nuclear verification work throughout the year.
The Safeguards Statement and Background for 2024 shows the trend of previous reports: the amount of nuclear material and facilities under IAEA safeguards continues to increase, said Massimo Aparo, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards at the IAEA. With more and more countries looking to add nuclear power to their energy mix, our workload will only keep growing.
In 2024, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Fiji, Mongolia, Oman, and Sierra Leone amended original Small Quantities Protocols (SQPs) to reflect the revised standard text, and Saudi Arabia rescinded an SQP. For the 15 States with SQPs based on the original text, the Agency remains ready to provide assistance towards the amendment or rescission of these SQPs.
During the year, a comprehensive safeguards agreement with an SQP based on the revised text and an additional protocol (AP) entered into force for Timor-Leste. Having an AP significantly enhances the IAEA's ability to verify the peaceful use of all nuclear material by providing the Agency with access to additional safeguards relevant information and locations.
Of the 190 States where the IAEA applied safeguards during 2024, 182 had comprehensive safeguards agreements (CSAs) in force, of which 137 also had APs in force. Of these 137 States, the IAEA concluded that all nuclear material remained in peaceful activities for 75 States. The IAEA drew this conclusion, also known as the broader conclusion, for the first time for Morocco. For 61 States, the IAEA was only able to conclude that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities as evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities remained ongoing.
For 31 States with a CSA but no AP in force, the IAEA was able to conclude that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities. As of the end of 2024, three non-nuclear-weapon States party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had yet to bring CSAs into force pursuant to Article III of the Treaty. For these States, the IAEA could not draw any safeguards conclusions.
For the three States in which the IAEA implemented safeguards pursuant to item-specific safeguards agreements (India, Israel, and Pakistan), the IAEA concluded that nuclear material, facilities, or other items to which safeguards had been applied remained in peaceful activities. Safeguards were also implemented in the five nuclear-weapon States party to the NPT under their respective voluntary offer agreements. For these five States (China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America), the IAEA concluded that nuclear material in selected facilities to which safeguards had been applied remained in peaceful activities or had been withdrawn from safeguards as provided for in the agreements.
Member State support is critical to keep pace with challenges, said Aparo. As we move forward, it is crucial for us to keep pace with the challenges and grasp the opportunities in international nuclear safeguards implementation. To strengthen States' capacity to implement safeguards, the Agency also continued to support State or regional authorities responsible for safeguards implementation (SRAs) and State systems of accounting for and control of nuclear material (SSACs). During 2024, the Agency continued to provide an extensive range of in-person and online training opportunities for professionals working in the safeguards field.
In addition, 2024 saw the launch of a new cycle of COMPASS - the IAEA Comprehensive Capacity-Building Initiative for SSACs and SRAs - with four countries: Bangladesh, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cameroon, and Ghana. Launched in 2020 by the Director General, COMPASS provides comprehensive assistance tailored to a State's specific safeguards needs.