In Focus :: IAEA and Iraq
IAEA and Iraq: The Next Steps
Q & A : Iraq
What is the IAEA's job in Iraq?
- The IAEA is responsible for the nuclear file. The IAEA's work is carried out through its Iraq Nuclear Verification Office (INVO), which is the new name of the Action Team the Agency set up in April 1991 after the Gulf War. Throughout the 1990s, the Team successively uncovered, mapped, monitored, and neutralized Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapons programme. INVO's work is coordinated with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), which is responsible for the chemical, biological and missile files. While the IAEA and UNMOVIC have separate inspection teams, the two organizations work closely together, particularly in making use of UNMOVIC's logistical arrangements.
- INVO includes experts on all stages of the nuclear fuel cycle as well as dual use technologies, import-export controls and nuclear smuggling.
- Inspections are conducted pursuant to the latest Security Council resolution (1441), which was adopted 8 November 2002. Iraq accepted the resolution in a letter to the UN 13 November 2002.
What authority do inspectors have?
- Security Council resolution 1441 provides a clear mandate in Iraq, with full and explicit authority for unrestricted inspections. It demands that Iraq "cooperate immediately, unconditionally, and actively" with the IAEA and UNMOVIC. Inspectors are to granted "immediate, unimpeded, unconditional, and unrestricted access to any and all" sites and facilities they wish to inspect; as well as "immediate, unimpeded, unrestricted, and private access" to all officials and other persons they wish to interview.
- The IAEA and UNMOVIC are to report immediately to the Council "any interference by Iraq with inspection activities, as well as any failure by Iraq to comply with its disarmament obligations". In that event, the Council would "convene immediately...to consider the situation and the need for full compliance with all of the relevant Council resolutions in order to secure international peace and security".
- Within 30 days (by 8 December), Iraq is to provide to the IAEA, UNMOVIC and Security Council a "currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems".
What's done to support on-site inspections?
- Logistical, communication, and equipment arrangements that inspectors need have been set up in Iraq. This involves ongoing coordination with UNMOVIC and other offices, including the office of UN Peacekeeping Operations for assistance with transportation and technical requirements. Equipment that the IAEA sent includes satellite communication systems, environmental monitoring and radiation detection instruments, and computer systems for data and information analysis.
- The IAEA has developed a plan of action, including a list of priority sites for inspections. The plan is confidential and takes into account announced as well as unannounced inspections. A key aim is to determine whether Iraq has re-started a nuclear programme, from the mining of raw materials to weapons development, in the period since December 1998.
- Inspectors are analyzing information, including that provided by Iraq at the Vienna talks in September. These declarations were required under past resolutions and cover the period from the second half of 1998 to present. Through INVO, the IAEA continuously tracks developments and analyzes information relevant to nuclear inspections in Iraq. This is in addition to its extensive database of information from inspection and analysis during the 1990s.
What tools and methods do inspectors use?
- Some of the procedures and techniques include: unannounced inspections of known locations; unannounced inspections of previously un-inspected locations; examination of records, equipment, materials and products; sampling of materials and work surfaces; imagery analysis; and environmental sampling, including aerial and land-based radiation surveys, hydrological sampling; vegetation sampling; air sampling and deposition sampling.
- Environmental sampling has proven to be a potent tool for radiological analysis of materials. Inspectors survey areas and collect samples that are later analyzed in specially-equipped laboratories. Analysts use ultra-sensitive techniques, such as mass spectrometry, particle analysis, and low-level radiometric analysis. Samples can be taken from surfaces of equipment and buildings, as well as from the air, water, sediments, and vegetation. Analysis of samples can determine "nuclear fingerprints", and reveal indicators of past and current activities in locations handling nuclear materials, particularly those associated with uranium conversion, fabrication, and enrichment.
- See Story on inspector tools.
Where did Iraq's nuclear-weapons programme stand when inspections stopped in 1998?
The IAEA had removed all known weapon-grade nuclear material, i.e. highly enriched uranium and plutonium. Additionally, it had taken custody of all known remaining uranium compounds; destroyed all known dedicated facilities and associated equipment; and monitored all known "dual-use" equipment that could be associated with nuclear-weapons development.
