The safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency : a study of the international politics of atomic control

Abstract

This thesis is a study in international politics. Its subject is the system for the control of atomic energy - the safeguards system - established and administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). I have undertaken a political study of this technical system because the main purpose for which the system was established is a political purpose. The system can be described in many ways A functional description shows it to be a set of technical and administrative arrangements designed to ensure that the atomic activities to which these arrangements apply are carried out within definite technical limits. A description in terms of its technical objective shows it to be a set of regulations designed to ensure that these same atomic activities do not "further any military purpose". Such descriptions are useful and have been considered wherever appropriate. However, the main concern of this thesis is with the negotiations on the development of this system for the international control of atomic energy. These negotiations reflect both the policy attitudes and diplomatic performances of the powers involved in them and the role it has been agreed the system should play in the wider field of nuclear arms control.