In 2024, the IAEA applied safeguards for 190 States with safeguards agreements in force, according to the Safeguards Statement and Background for 2024, published recently. This involved performing more than 3000 in-field verification activities at over 1300 nuclear facilities and 'locations outside facilities' around the world.
Through safeguards, the IAEA verifies States' commitments to use nuclear material and technology only for peaceful purposes. The annual Safeguards Statement presents the IAEA's findings and conclusions from undertaking its nuclear verification work throughout the year.
"The Safeguards Statement and Background for 2024 shows the trend of previous reports: the amount of nuclear material and facilities under IAEA safeguards continues to increase," said Massimo Aparo, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards at the IAEA. "With more and more countries looking to add nuclear power to their energy mix, our workload will only keep growing."
Small Quantities Protocol
In 2024, the IAEA was able to draw safeguards conclusions for 175 of the 190 States where safeguards were applied. The remaining 15 States had small quantities protocols (SQPs) based on the protocol's original standard text. As noted by the Director General, Rafael Mariano Grossi, this text contains limitations that significantly affect the IAEA's ability to draw a credible and soundly-based safeguards conclusion for such States.
Standardized in 1974, the SQP is designed to simplify the implementation of safeguards for States with minimal or no nuclear material and activities. In 2005, the IAEA Board of Governors decided that the SQP in its original form constituted a weakness in the safeguards system, and it approved a revised standard text for SQPs. The IAEA no longer draws safeguards conclusions for States with SQPs based on the original standard text.
In 2024, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Fiji, Mongolia, Oman and Sierra Leone amended original SQPs to reflect the revised standard text, and Saudi Arabia rescinded an SQP. For the 15 States with SQPs based on the original text, the Agency remains ready to provide assistance towards the amendment or rescission of these SQPs.
During the year, a comprehensive safeguards agreement (CSA) with an SQP based on the revised text and an additional protocol (AP) entered into force for Timor-Leste.
Having an AP significantly enhances the IAEA's ability to verify the peaceful use of all nuclear material by providing the Agency with access to additional safeguards relevant information and locations.
Safeguards: the IAEA's Conclusions
Of the 190 States where the IAEA applied safeguards during 2024, 182 had CSAs in force, of which 137 also had APs in force. Of these 137 States, the IAEA concluded that "all nuclear material remained in peaceful activities" for 75 States. The IAEA drew this conclusion, also known as the 'broader conclusion', for the first time for Morocco. For 61 States, the IAEA was only able to conclude that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities as evaluations regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities remained ongoing.
For 31 States with a CSA but no AP in force, the IAEA was able to conclude that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities.
As of the end of 2024, three non-nuclear-weapon States party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had yet to bring CSAs into force pursuant to Article III of the Treaty. For these States, the IAEA could not draw any safeguards conclusions.
For the three States in which the IAEA implemented safeguards pursuant to item-specific safeguards agreements (India, Israel and Pakistan), the IAEA concluded that "nuclear material, facilities or other items to which safeguards had been applied remained in peaceful activities".
Safeguards were also implemented in the five nuclear-weapon States party to the NPT under their respective voluntary offer agreements. For these five States (China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America), the IAEA concluded that "nuclear material in selected facilities to which safeguards had been applied remained in peaceful activities or had been withdrawn from safeguards as provided for in the agreements."
Member State Support is Critical to Keep Pace with Challenges
"That we are able to draw safeguards conclusions for so many States with safeguards agreements in force is a significant undertaking," said Aparo. "As we move forward, it is crucial for us to keep pace with the challenges, and grasp the opportunities, in international nuclear safeguards implementation."
To strengthen States' capacity to implement safeguards, the Agency also continued to support State or regional authorities responsible for safeguards implementation (SRAs) and State systems of accounting for and control of nuclear material (SSACs). During 2024, the Agency continued to provide an extensive range of in-person and online training opportunities for professionals working in the safeguards field.
In addition, 2024 saw the launch of a new cycle of COMPASS - the IAEA Comprehensive Capacity-Building Initiative for SSACs and SRAs - with four countries: Bangladesh, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cameroon and Ghana. Launched in 2020 by the Director General, COMPASS provides comprehensive assistance tailored to a State's specific safeguards needs.
