In November, a new Member State Support Programme (MSSP) was established between the Swiss Confederation and the IAEA. The new MSSP means that Switzerland and the Agency will work more closely together to address nuclear safeguards challenges in the coming years.
IAEA safeguards are technical measures embedded in Safeguards Agreements between the IAEA and a State, which are implemented by the IAEA in order to provide the international community with assurances that nuclear material remains in peaceful use. Technical support from IAEA Member States helps the Agency strengthen global nuclear verification.
“For us, Member State Support Programmes provide a very important network”, said Massimo Aparo, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards. “For more than 40 years, MSSPs have supported the IAEA’s nuclear verification mission through financial contributions, training, technology transfer, and expert collaboration in many different forms. By signing the MSSP Practical Arrangements, Switzerland will join a group of 20 other IAEA Member States and the European Commission in demonstrating a special interest in the future success of our mission."
MSSPs have been assisting the application of safeguards since the late 1970s. Their contributions have provided many of the tools and techniques presently used by IAEA inspectors around the world for nuclear verification, and support the IAEA's in-house capabilities. For example, the Network of Analytical Laboratories (NWAL), comprising 24 external laboratories in IAEA Member States and the European Commission, analyse nuclear material and environmental samples on behalf of the Department, supplementing the work performed at the IAEA’s own laboratories in Seibersdorf.
As the first new support programme since 2013, Switzerland’s MSSP will be instrumental in helping the Department advance its strategic plans and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of safeguards going forward.
