UAE Safeguards Experience to Facilitate IAEA Activities

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), in its full commitment to the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has established a comprehensive State System of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Materials (SSAC) through its Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR). FANR’s Safeguards function enables the UAE to meet its international safeguards obligations, including ensuring the effective facilitation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Safeguards activities in the UAE under the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (INFCIRC/622) and the Additional Protocol (AP) (INFCIRC/622/Add.1).  With the recent expansion of the UAE’s civil nuclear program, the UAE now operates four APR-1400 nuclear power plants at Barakah. The UAE has transitioned from the implementation of Safeguards under a Small Quantities Protocol (SQP), to comprehensive implementation under a full-scope CSA and AP. This transition necessitated a proactive approach to readying FANR’s Safeguards capabilities, ensuring the deployment of suitably qualified and experienced personnel, supported by a robust legal and regulatory framework, and fostering effective communications between FANR and key stakeholders. The UAE’s efforts in this domain were acknowledged in the Safeguards Implementation Report for 2022 when the IAEA, for the first time, concluded that all nuclear material in the UAE remained in peaceful activities and that there was no evidence of undeclared activities. This so-called ‘broader conclusion’ underscores the effectiveness of the UAE's Safeguards framework. The paper provides insight into FANR’s approach to facilitating IAEA Safeguards activities in the UAE. It discusses the systems and arrangements and best practices in place to ensure the efficient and effective facilitation of IAEA activities in the UAE, thereby comprehensively fulfilling the State’s international Safeguards obligations.