09/12/2005 - Oslo, Norway — The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, has arrived in Oslo to pick up this year's Nobel Peace Prize, which he will share with the IAEA. We've got another prize for him...
To underscore just how ridiculous we consider this to be, we'd like to present Dr. ElBaradei with our new invention: the "Nuke-in-a-Box."
It looks like a nuclear power plant.
But push the button, and out pops a nuclear missile.
POP! Oh my! Where did THAT come from?
With his new toy, Dr. ElBaradei can have hours of fun doing what all kids do with a Jack-in-the-box: be continually surprised when the missile POPS out.
Oh my! Where did THAT come from???
Of course, Dr. ElBaradei is an adult, and he shouldn't really be surprised when the missile pops out of the box. Nor should he be surprised when his Agency, charged with promoting nuclear power for all, ends up promoting nuclear weapons for all as well.
But life is just full of surprises! Like when in 1999 the government of Belgium asked if it was safe to send nuclear technology to Pakistan. ElBaradei was in "promoting nuclear power" mode rather than "stopping nuclear weapons" mode, and he wrote back giving a green light, saying there was no evidence that Pakistan had diverted any materials "for military purposes." A few years later... Pop! Oh my! Where did THAT come from?
The double role of the IAEA is reflected in its statutes which stipulates that the IAEA "shall seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy" but also ensure "so far as it is able" that this assistance "is not used in such a way as to further any military purpose."
Ha, ha. That's a good one!
POP! Oh my! Where did THAT come from?
"Designing a UN agency with such conflicting tasks has proven to be a recipe for disaster," says Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Truls Gulowsen. "Greenpeace has proposed to the Member States that the IAEA is reformed, removing its nuclear power promotional role, and strengthening the nuclear weapons watchdog function. Nuclear power is dangerous, dirty, expensive and increases the risk of nuclear weapon proliferation. Rather than helping countries to nuclear power, the UN should focus on promoting safe renewable energy, and do more to enforce the obligation to nuclear disarmament under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons."
Whereas the IAEA has been quite successful in spreading civilian nuclear power technology and materials, it has failed in its anti-proliferation mission. Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have used the IAEA assistance for their civilian nuclear programmes to develop nuclear weapons. In addition, rather than minimizing the availability of nuclear weapons-grade materials, the IAEA has contributed to the worrying trend in the last 10 years of growing global stockpiles of nuclear weapons-grade materials (plutonium and highly enriched uranium).
POP! Oh my! Where did THAT come from?