93+10 : strengthened nuclear safeguards a decade on

The Brief considers the progress made in strengthening International Atomic Energy (IAEA) safeguards ten years after the so-called 93+2 programme was launched in 1993 following the discovery of Iraq's clandestine attempts to acquire nuclear weapons. It analyses steps taken by the IAEA itself under its existing legal authority and the status of attempts to have all states adopt Additional Protocols to give the Agency wider powers of information-gathering and inspection. The paper also assesses the challenges facing the Agency in rationalising the old and new safeguards regimes through what it calls 'integrated safeguards'. The Brief concludes with some recommendations on how nuclear safeguards might be further strengthened.