The IAEA safeguards regime is a system governed by various
bilateral and multilateral agreements made with the IAEA. These
agreements are typically structured according to an Information
Circular (INFCIRC), a series of resolutions and agreements guiding
safeguards implementation.
List of Information Circulars issued by the
IAEA
In the evolution of safeguards, there are three major phases
characterized by the predominant safeguards agreement (INFCIRC) of
each phase.
- INFCIRC/66
INFCIRC/66 is the first document created to govern safeguards
implementation. Approved by the Board of Governors in 1965,
INFCIRC/66 pre-dates the NPT. INFCIRC/66 applies safeguards on a
facility-specific basis, but the safeguards did not follow the
material from facility to facility, leaving potential areas for
diversion or misuse.
- INFCIRC/153 (Comprehensive Safeguards
Agreement/CSA)
In 1968, the international safeguards regime was improved upon
with the introduction of INFCIRC/153. Under the Comprehensive
Safeguards Agreement, the IAEA was tasked with applying safeguards
on allnuclear materialsin non-nuclear weapons states that were
party to the NPT. This expanded the role of IAEA safeguards to a
larger group of states and covered a much larger quantity of
material flowing in and between those states. This was the
predominant guiding document until 1991.
- INFCIRC/540 (Additional
Protocol)
This agreement came about in 1991 after the clandestine nuclear
program in Iraq was exposed. INFCIRC/540 radically changed the
safeguards regime, allowing increased inspector access to
facilities within the states and multi-entry visas for inspectors,
introduced the idea of environmental sampling to analyze materials
present in an area, and expanded IAEA access in order to verify
that undeclared proliferation activities not present in a state.
