Specialized Committee

International Atomic

Energy Agency

2016

CHS MiniMUN 2016

Contents

Table of Contents

A Letter from the Secretariat 3

Description of Committee 4-4

Future of Nuclear Power 6

Introduction 6-7

Background 810

Recent Development 11-12

International Action 13-14

Recommentations for Creating A Resolution 14

Further Research 15

Resources 16

This background guide has been adopted and reformatted from

UNA-USA 2014 Model United Nations Conference Background Guide for the International Atomic

Energy Agency.

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CHS MiniMUN 2016

A Letter from the Secretariat

Delegates,

Welcome to the background guides for MiniMUN 2016! Whether it is your first or third Model

United Nations conference, it is our hope at MiniMUN that you will continue to further expand your

knowledge of MUN, world issues, and the UN itself.

By opening this document, you are taking the first step towards being a participant. The purpose

of this background guide is to introduce the committee and the topic. Further research is required along

with the submission of a position paper. Details on position paper and submission are available under the

Position Paper tab on our website: http://chsminimun.weebly.com/position-papers.html

The topics and committees were chosen to reflect the problems that our world leaders face. From

the basic idea of access to vaccines to avoiding the possible conflict in outer space, these issues have to be

dealt with. As a delegate, you will be stepping into the role of world leaders. You will take on perspectives

different from your own, and you will push for what your country believes to be right.

If at any time you are having trouble finding information on your topic or need help with the

position paper, contact the MiniMUN staff. We are more than willing to help!

We are very excited to see you at MiniMUN 2016!

Karla Chavez and Ashwin Rathie

Secretary-General and Director-General, MiniMUN 2016

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CHS MiniMUN 2016

Description of Committee

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an independent intergovernmental

organization of the United Nations. The IAEA was formed on July 29, 1957 twelve years after the first

detonation of an atomic bomb in 1945. Immediately, world leaders realized the dangerous power of the

weapon, and sought to create a body to open dialogue to ensure security of the materials and deter their use.

The IAEA’s headquarters are in Vienna, Austria, and it seeks to fulfill three pillars of nuclear safety:

security, safety, and safe technology transfer. Currently it contains a system of policy bodies that include

the Board of Governors, the General Conference, and the Director General. The Board of Governors is a

body of representatives from 35 countries that generally meet about five times a year. They make

suggestions for the General Conference about the IAEA’s budget, program, and applications for

membership. In addition the Board of Governors is also responsible for approving safeguard agreements

and appointing the Director General.1 The current Director General of the IAEA is Yukiya Amano. The

General Conference is composed of a representative from every Member State and meets once a year around

September to discuss the issues brought up by the Board of Governors and/or the concerns of the states.2

The IAEA’s mission includes:

• To serve as the global focal point for nuclear cooperation;

• To assist its Member States in planning for and using nuclear technology for various

peaceful purposes and facilitates the transfer of such technology and knowledge in a

sustainable manner;

• To promote the maintenance of high levels of safety in applications of nuclear energy,

as well as the protection of human health and the environment against ionizing radiation;

• To regulate States’ compliance with their commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty

and other non-proliferation agreements, to use nuclear material and facilities only for peaceful

purposes.

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The IAEA also manages and oversees the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963. It is an agreement that

was negotiated by the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom prohibiting nuclear devices to be

tested or used in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater, thus

driving all legal nuclear testing underground.

The International Atomic Energy currently has 159 Member States. Most of the member states of

the UN are members of IAEA including the Holy See. States such as Cape Verde, Tonga, San Marino, the

Bahamas, and Brunei have been approved for membership and will become full member states once they

implement the necessary legal plans.

Still it is important to note that there is one country that has withdrawn from the IAEA. North Korea

was a member state from 1974-1994. It withdrew after it was

"National governments are redoubling their efforts to prevent and to counter nuclear terrorism, both at home

and abroad. The IAEA is serving as a catalyst for these efforts. Governments and the IAEA are working

overtime on this problem, and we have every intention of continuing until the threat has been vastly reduced.

But this will not happen overnight; bringing the global inventory of radioactive material under proper

controls will require a sustained and concerted effort." – Mohamed ElBaradei, July 2002 found in non-

compliance with its required safeguards. Other than North Korea the only state to withdraw was Cambodia.

Cambodia withdrew from the IAEA in 2003 but rejoined in 2009.

IAEA website: http:// www.iaea.org

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The Future of Nuclear Power

Introduction

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is an international agreement that allows for the

permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, the United

Kingdom, France, Russia, and China – to possess the capability for a nuclear weapons program. The NPT

also allows states to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. All other parties to the treaty had

agreed to remain as non-nuclear states and to only use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

However, the possibility of states using nuclear energy to develop weapons has become an

increasing threat. As the United States and Russia have been progressively de-arming for the past few

decades, other states have seized the opportunity to seek or develop weapons, usually secretly and

illegally. The spreading of nuclear weapons is called nuclear proliferation.

This desire for nuclear weapons and subsequent proliferation is attributed to the need for one’s

sovereignty to be secure. Sovereignty is a very important international relations concept that means every

state is guaranteed the right to administer its own affairs within its own borders without interference. If

the international community decides that those affairs threaten other states, the question is often debated

whether or not it is justifiable to violate a state’s sovereignty.

Problems have arisen from three states that have never joined the NPT (India, Israel, and Pakistan)

and from North Korea, who withdrew from the NPT. India, Pakistan, and North Korea have openly tested

nuclear weapons. Israel has remained secretive about its nuclear capabilities, neither denying nor affirming

their existence. South Africa admitted in the early 1990s to having developed a small nuclear program but

has since de-nuclearized.

Currently, the international community faces several challenges. The first is on-going tensions

between nuclear weapon states India and Pakistan, which could lead to nuclear war. The second is the

alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons by Iran and North Korea. Iran and Israel also have on-going tensions.

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Iran is a party to the NPT and a Member State of the IAEA yet fails to remain transparent about its

nuclear activity and with its compliance of IAEA safeguards. Currently the situation in the Middle East

remains tense because of Iran’s instability and desire

to sustain a nuclear program not supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or

the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The suspicion that Iran’s nuclear program may have military

motives has garnered huge international attention. The focus on the implications of possible Iranian nuclear

weapon acquisition stem from the Iran’s non-compliant history with the IAEA and its hostility towards

Israel and even the United States. The way the Iran situation is handled could be very descriptive of how

the international community will work together to ensure nuclear safety in the future.

With aggression coming from Iran and North Korea, especially, and the existential threat that they

pose to Israel and South Korea, respectively, the international community feels the pressure and is

working towards immediate solutions to avoid an intentional strike, or even a miscalculation, in which one

country strikes because it thinks the other is about to strike through misunderstandings about a threat.

With efforts from international organizations and committees in the United Nations such as the

Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as other actors like the European

External Action Service, the world is perhaps on its way to an understanding on nuclear proliferation and

greater compliance, or adherence to, with nuclear safety regulations. In the past the Security Council has

enacted economic sanctions, meaning they have prohibited some type of or all trade with a country in order

to economically punish the country for misconduct and force the country to desist in exchange for removing

sanctions. Iran and North Korea are both currently subjects of intense sanctions from the international

community.

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Background

History of the NPT

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in 1968 and aimed to prevent the spread

and misuse of nuclear weapons and technology. The goal of the treaty was to maintain international security

by promoting non-proliferation, disarmament, and a continued support of the peaceful use of nuclear

energy.

The document classifies the difference between nuclear and non-nuclear states in Articles I and II.

The nuclear weapon states must not “assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to

manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, or control over such

weapons or explosive devices”. Non-nuclear states are “not to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear

weapons or other nuclear explosive devices; and not to seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture

of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

Parties to the NPT agreed that only the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and

France were to be recognized as nuclear weapons states – by 1963, they were the only states that possessed

nuclear weapons, and were also the Permanent Five (P5) members of the United Nations Security Council.

The IAEA intended to enforce these rules by creating detailed safeguards for how to treat nuclear

technology and weapons, as well as mechanisms to inspect facilities in any member state to ensure

compliance.

Currently there are 189 parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which includes 188 of the 193 UN

Member States. However, out of the 193 members of the United Nations four have refused to become

signatories to the NPT: India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and now South Sudan.6 Iran, which has been

party of the NPT since 1970, has been suspected to be in violation of the treaty from 2002 until present

because the IAEA suspected that Tehran (the capital of Iran) was not complying with the safeguards that

were put in place. Tehran allegedly consistently resisted inspections and manipulated evidence.

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India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan

In the spirit of cooperation, the United States and the Soviet Union pushed forth the Limited Test-

Ban Treaty of 1963, prohibiting nuclear explosions in the atmosphere, in outer space, and under water.

However, it failed to ban all testing.

Yet from an early point in history nuclear non-proliferation proved to be a difficult task. In 1974

India conducted an atmospheric test of a nuclear device. They were non-signatory to the NPT and a

specified non-nuclear-weapons state. As a result, long-time rival Pakistan began its own program, and in

1998 both Pakistan and India had conducted underground nuclear tests that resulted in international scrutiny

and a round of sanctions.

The Israeli nuclear weapons program was something of a rumor in the 1970s and was allegedly

verified in the mid-1980s. Much evidence has come forth about the existence of Israeli weapons, but the

state of Israel still refuses to admit and define itself as weapons-state. India, ‘Israel’, and Pakistan are now

all in possession of nuclear weapons and non-parties to the NPT. In addition to those three states, North

Korea announced its intention to withdraw from the NPT in 1994. The announcement came after repeated

hints by North Korean representatives that their country already possessed a few nuclear weapons and were

conducting experiments.

Iran, the NPT, the Future of Nuclear Weapons

Although Iran has been a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty since 1970, its

compliance has been historically poor and conspicuous. In 2002, Iran fell under serious suspicion for

potential violations of the safeguards set in place and was suspected of pursuing development of nuclear

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weapons technology despite the obligations of the NPT that prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons

or technology for non-peaceful energy purposes.

The international community began to believe that Iran could not be trusted and that the reactors

it has being constructing over the years were for the pursuit of nuclear weapons, despite Iranian defenses

that the reactors were solely for peaceful civilian energy. Since 2002, the U.N. Security Council has set in

place several resolutions, specifically resolution 1929, in attempts to require Iran to cooperate with the

IAEA and its safeguards, as well as to urge Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program (the reactive

material that, once enriched enough, becomes unstable enough for a weapon reaction as opposed to a

calmer, civilian-energy appropriate reaction) and the construction of its reactors.8

After Iran was found to be in violation of its agreement to IAEA safeguards in 2005, the IAEA was

patient in giving Tehran additional time to comply with its demands. Despite the patience of the U.N. and

the international community Iran still remains a huge concern today, taking the international spotlight in

light of talks with High Representative for Foreign Affairs of the European Union, Baroness Catherine

Ashton, and others over several months.

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Recent Development

The current fear of an Iranian bomb in the Middle East has prompted similarly aggressive rhetoric

from Israel, whose existence is constantly threatened by the power of neighboring countries who do not

recognize its right to exist. Historically, Israel and Iran have been at odds, thus the existence of an Iranian

has Israel pushing the international community to act harshly against Iran and has prompted Israel to even

international support and backing for its actions. The danger of miscalculation also exists – if Iran or

Israel were to perceive aggressive action coming from either, the region could erupt into violence.

The situation with Iran’s nuclear program has become a determinant in the future of nuclear

weapons proliferation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Geneva with the other Permanent 5

members (Russia, China, France, and the UK) along with Germany and Israel several times in November

2013 to discuss measures on how to restrain Iran from developing its nuclear weapons program. Iran

proved to be more cooperative than in the past despite continuing tense relations with the United States.

The international community made progress on a deal on November 11, 2013 when Iran signed an accord

with the International Atomic Energy Agency that would grant UN inspectors limited access to some of

their nuclear reactors, and on the 25th with a sanctions relief deal. Iran agreed to provide access to the

Gchine mine in Bandar Abbas and other heavy water plants. In addition Iran would be expected to provide

information on new nuclear research and on their 16 sites for nuclear power. On November 25th in a

second round of talks, Iran agreed to an interim, six-month agreement that would require Iran to curb its

production in exchange for breaks on sanctions. Iranians and Western diplomats alike hailed this as a

breakthrough in discussions.

Although the talks included Secretary of State John Kerry, some remain skeptical of the quality of

deal. Israel and France were among the first to raise concerns. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

urged the leaders to rethink the deal and not rush into a plan that would not be effective in working towards

the ultimate goal of disarming Iran. Prime Minister Netanyahu even went so far to call this a “bad deal”

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because "Iran isn't even required to take apart even one centrifuge, but the international community is

relieving sanctions on Iran.”

A good deal from this perspective would thus call for transparency into the nuclear capabilities of

the Iranian military, and no deal should be hurriedly struck stating otherwise. Iran has not been honest with

or given the IAEA access to the nuclear developments within their military base and has been deceitful

with information concerning their current nuclear capabilities. There is still a long way to go and many

obstacles to overcome to reach a permanent consensus on the Iranian program, especially as the United

States Congress rejected some of the certain sanction breaks and countries like Israel and France argue that

such a small, temporary deal does little to curb the security risks of the region. With efforts from both the

IAEA and U.N. inspectors, Iran should start to get some relief from its sanctions starting in January if it

successfully fulfills its end of the deal.

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International Action

Over ten years, the international community has passed numerous resolutions, sanctions, and

condemnations of the Iranian program to no avail. Iran has been fickle with its compliance, sometimes

allowing inspectors and other times blocking access or concealing evidence. As a result, in the past year,

more direct discussions between specifically the P5 countries, Israel, Germany, and the European Union

have taken place to target pressure on Iran with more force.

There remain issues with the deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency will be faced with a

tight budget and a need for more money in order to oversee the implementation of the nuclear deal between

Iran and six world powers. Already about 10 percent of the IAEA’s annual $164 million budget is used

solely for inspections in Iran. The IAEA has on average two to four staff members in Iran virtually every

day of the year.13 Successful implementation of the Iran deal is essential for resolving this situation and

making international security and promoting nuclear non-proliferation.

Director General Yukiya Amano stated that Iran has agreed and invited the IAEA to visit the Arak

heavy-water production plant on December 8, which would be the first major step in ensuring that Iran’s

nuclear program remains only for peaceful purposes.

The main conditions of the interim deal are:

1. No enrichment of Uranium above 5% U-235, which is a form that can also be used to create a

nuclear device, it must be blended down to less than 5% or altered to a form that cannot be used to

create weapons.

2. No additional centrifuges (a key machinery component to create a reaction) are to be installed or

created, and three-fourths of the centrifuges at Fordow and half of the centrifuges at Natanz will

become inoperable.

3. Iran is to stop all work on the reactor at Arak. It may not fuel the reactor and must provide design

details on the reactor.

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4. Iran is to grant full access to IAEA inspectors to all of its nuclear facilities, including daily

visitation to Natanz and Fordow, as well as camera surveillance to key sites.14

Should Iran maintain these conditions, no new sanctions shall be placed on Iran and there would

be limited relief on the sanctions on trade of gold and petrochemicals.15 Many of the negotiators agreed

that this is step in the right direction to assure the stability of the Middle East and to ease tensions between

Israel and Iran, but others argued the deal has not gone far enough to change the situation. Countries retain

the sovereign right to exercise trade policy (except the European Union which retains rights over its states),

so each country currently exercising sanctions against Iran will need to enact its own reliefs once they

begin to feel confident in Iran’s commitment to the deal.

Recommendations for Creating a Resolution

Debate should focus on establishing a relationship with Iran that is transparent and allows the

international community to be confident that Iran is following its NPT obligations, and if it is not following

those obligations, to establish an action plan for bringing Iran into compliance. It is essential to address

how to properly implement the Iran deal and how the IAEA and UN Security Council can help to ensure

that this time, Iran remains committed to the deal and that the international community maintains its

agreements to roll back sanctions in return for compliance to keep Iran motivated to cooperate.

In addition, delegates should consider how these practices in cooperation with Iran could apply to

future nuclear proliferation crises in other potential rogue countries, and what standards the international

community should set for dealing with proliferation crises. The situation with North Korea is very similar

and could be another issue to address. Finally, delegates may also want to solve the long-term implications

of nuclear weapon states that are not part of the NPT such as India, Israel, and Pakistan.

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Further Research

Questions to Consider:

1. What is your country’s position on nuclear weapons? Do they have weapons? Do they use nuclear

energy for civilian purposes?

2. Is your country a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)? What are the strengths

and weaknesses of the NPT?

3. Should the NPT ever recognize the right of other non-permanent five states to possess weapons?

4. How effective are sanctions when it comes to deterring or ending illicit behaviors of states?

5. How does your country think Iran could gain back confidence and trust from the international

community?

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Resources