Fifty Years of the International Atomic Energy Agency and German Contributions to the Development of International Safeguards

During the years 2006 and 2007, the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA) has been celebrating its fiftieth anniversary.This background gave good reasons for both a retrospectiveof the evolution of agency safeguards and the identification offuture challenges in safeguards. This paper will highlight someGerman contributions to the development of agency safeguardsduring the last thirty years. The major contributions and projectswere not only of a technical nature but also addressed conceptualas well as institutional issues. The principal framework for thedevelopmental cooperation between the IAEA and the Germangovernment has been the Joint Program on the TechnicalDevelopment and Further Improvement of IAEA Safeguards,dubbed the German Support Program. Currently, it is comprisingmore than twenty individual tasks. In addition to highlightsand current tasks, the structure and management of the GermanSupport Program will be briefly explained.