Year
1975
Abstract
The coming into force of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in March 1970 marked the start of a new era in international safeguards. Up to that date agreements by which safeguards tasks were assigned to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were concluded with limited scope and in respect of specific requests. The most frequent type of request occurred when two States had concluded a bilateral supply and co-operation agreement and wished to transfer safeguards to an international body. Secondly, safeguards agreements were called for under the Agency's Statute to ensure that IAEA-sponsored nuclear projects were not used to further any military purpose. Thirdly, there were a few cases in which a State would unilaterally submit all or a defined part of its nuclear activities to Agency safeguards.