STRENGTHENED lAEA SAFEGUARDS AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION IN THE UNITED STATES

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is my pleasure to have this opportunity to share with you my impressions of some of the events that have taken place during the past few years in the strengthening of the lAEA safeguards system and some of our plans for continuing the process of strengthening safeguards, in particular our plans for implementing the Strengthened Safeguards System, as it has been dubbed by Dr. Pellaud, in the United States. Firstly, I will review briefly the events leading up to the approval by the lAEA Board of Governors in May of this year of a new Model Protocol whereby the IAEA would gain the authority needed for a substantial strengthening of its safeguards system. I would also like to point out some of the key issues that arose during the negotiation of this model and the role the United States played in that process. Then I will outline the steps, which are just now beginning, whereby we will bring this new protocol into force in the United States. In the course of these comments, I will try to indicate some flavor of the substance of the protocol.