The United States contributes roughly 25 percent of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) regular budget annually through the U.S. Department of State.  For 2008, the U.S. contribution to the IAEA regular budget is approximately $94 million of a total budget of $390 million.  This covers the core functions of the Agency, including international safeguards inspections, promoting nuclear safety and security, and promoting the benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.  The U.S. also pledged $51.8 million in voluntary contributions to the IAEA in 2008.  This includes funding for training, equipment development and deployment, nuclear security, the U.S. national laboratories’ assistance with analyzing environmental samples to verify the declarations of member states, and the U.S. contribution to the Technical Cooperation Fund.

In addition to direct budgetary support from State, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provides assistance in the form of financial and in-kind contributions to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its Member States in support of the IAEA mandate, totaling approximately $53.3 million in fiscal year 2008.  NNSA’s support of the IAEA mission also includes two full-time nonproliferation experts detailed to the UNVIE staff.  The following is a summary of NNSA’s activities in support of IAEA programs and objectives to prevent nuclear proliferation and combat nuclear terrorism.

Strengthening Nuclear Security

• Provides international, regional and national training and assessment missions, jointly with the IAEA, to officials with nuclear security responsibilities at nuclear facilities.
• Helps develop international guidelines, standards, and recommendations on physical protection, control and accounting of nuclear materials and nuclear facilities.

Benefits:

• Supports the IAEA’s nuclear security efforts worldwide.
• Furthers U.S. objective of strengthening nuclear security and preventing nuclear terrorism globally.

IAEA Safeguards Inspector Training

• Non-Destructive Assay training provided twice a year.
• Additional Protocol Annex I and II training in commodity recognition.

Benefits:

• Provides the IAEA with a free source of high-quality training to carry out its mandate.
• Ensures a standard level of competency for nuclear inspectors and national authorities with these responsibilities, a critical national security objective.

Next Generation Safeguards Initiative

• Develop advanced measurement technology for use in safeguarding nuclear fuel cycle facilities.
• Develop and demonstrate advanced safeguards concepts and approaches for new fuel cycle facilities, for consideration by the IAEA and Member States.
• Provides technical safeguards, safety, and security support to countries that have expressed a credible interest in developing civil nuclear power.

Benefits:

• Enables IAEA to implement strengthened safeguards that make more effective and efficient use of limited resources.
• Gives IAEA tools required to verify declared activities and detect undeclared activities.
• Strengthens international verification and the nonproliferation regime.
• Identifies advanced safeguards approaches for U.S. facilities, and assists in rebuilding the safeguards human capital technical base.
• Supports safeguards and nonproliferation mission in countries embarking on development of a nuclear energy program.
• Strengthens the nonproliferation regime and reduces the likelihood of a nuclear accident.

Treaty Implementation and Safeguards Cooperation

• Assists other states in meeting IAEA safeguards obligations.
• International Training Course on State Systems of Accounting and Control for Nuclear Materials Training carried out jointly with the IAEA and U.S. Department of State provided once every two years.

Benefits:

• Enables the IAEA to make clearer determinations as to the status of declared nuclear activities and confirm the absence of undeclared activities.
• Ensures compliance with treaty obligations, reducing the threat of proliferation and countering the threat of nuclear terrorism.

Global Threat Reduction Activities

• Provides financial and in-kind support (technical experts, assessment missions, guidance document development, and equipment) for global threat reduction activities, including securing nuclear and radiological materials, returning highly enriched uranium research reactor fuel to the country of origin, converting research reactors to use low enriched uranium fuel, and repatriating excess and unwanted high activity radiological sources.
• Assists the IAEA in development and implementation of equipment and technology to secure and recover vulnerable high risk nuclear and other radioactive materials.

Benefits:

• Helps IAEA carry out nuclear and radiological security mission.
• Reduces duplication of activities through better communication with other member states, helps to avoid gaps in upgrading security of nuclear and radiological materials, and helps to better leverage international resources.
• Reduces the risk that nuclear and radiological materials will be used for malicious purposes against U.S. interests.

International Border Security

• Supports international border monitoring efforts including coordinating equipment deployment, training and response development.
• Provides state of the art radiation detection systems for IAEA’s Vienna International Center.
• Stands ready to provide nuclear-related equipment recognition training to Member States should they seek it from the Agency alongside nuclear material detection assistance.

Benefits:

• Supports IAEA goals, including implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540.
• Uses U.S. expertise to help counter illicit trafficking of nuclear and radiological materials and related equipment.

Strengthening International Nuclear Emergency Preparedness and Response Capabilities

• Provides specialized medical, monitoring and responder training to the IAEA and its member states.
• Provides emergency response and communications equipment to the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Center.
• Engages in work to re-engineer and strengthen the international emergency management system to assure that the system can respond to any nuclear accident or radiological emergency, including a terrorist event.

Benefits:

• Increases the international readiness to respond to potential nuclear emergencies.
  

Media contact(s):
NNSA Public Affairs (202) 586-7371