Safeguards for the Nineties: Do We Need a New Perspective?

In the article present and future challenges of the IAEA safeguards system are discussed against the background of developments in politics and the safeguards-system itself. An incremental approach is proposed which should be based on a modification of the common perspectives on safeguards roles and limitations. One has to think over the regional distribution of safeguards activities, the inspection frequency has to be reduced in item facilities and special inspections should play a role in closing the parallel program path to nuclear weapons. Political considerations about countries reliability and trustworthiness will play a greater role in the future safeguards system.