Vienna: In 2024, the International Atomic Energy Agency (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 3,000 in-field verification activities at over 1,300 nuclear facilities and locations outside facilities worldwide.

According to EMM, the IAEA employs safeguards to verify States' commitments to using nuclear material and technology solely for peaceful purposes. The annual Safeguards Statement outlines the IAEA's findings and conclusions from conducting its nuclear verification work throughout the year.

The Safeguards Statement and Background for 2024 reveals a continued trend from previous reports: the amount of nuclear material and facilities under IAEA safeguards is increasing, stated Massimo Aparo, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Safeguards at the IAEA. As more countries aim to incorporate nuclear power into their energy strategies, the IAEA's workload is expected to grow.

In 2024, several countries, including the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Fiji, Mongolia, Oman, and Sierra Leone, amended their Small Quantities Protocols (SQPs) to reflect revised standard text, while Saudi Arabia rescinded an SQP. The IAEA remains ready to assist the 15 States with SQPs based on the original text in amending or rescinding these protocols.

A comprehensive safeguards agreement (CSA) with an SQP based on the revised text and an additional protocol (AP) was enforced for Timor-Leste. An AP enhances the IAEA's capability to verify the peaceful use of all nuclear materials by providing access to additional safeguards-related information and locations.

Of the 190 States where the IAEA applied safeguards in 2024, 182 had CSAs in force, with 137 also having APs in force. The IAEA concluded that all nuclear material remained in peaceful activities for 75 of these States, including Morocco, for which this broader conclusion was drawn for the first time. For 61 States, the IAEA could only confirm that declared nuclear material remained in peaceful activities, as evaluations regarding undeclared nuclear material and activities are ongoing.

For the 31 States with a CSA but no AP in force, the IAEA concluded 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 not yet enforced CSAs, preventing the IAEA from drawing any safeguards conclusions.

For the three States where the IAEA implemented item-specific safeguards agreements (India, Israel, and Pakistan), the IAEA confirmed that nuclear material, facilities, or other items remained in peaceful activities. Safeguards were also applied in five nuclear-weapon States party to the NPT under voluntary offer agreements, with similar conclusions drawn.

Massimo Aparo emphasized the importance of member State support in keeping pace with the challenges and opportunities in international nuclear safeguards implementation. To bolster States' capabilities, the IAEA continued to support State or regional authorities responsible for implementing safeguards and state systems of accounting for and control of nuclear material.

In 2024, a new cycle of the IAEA Comprehensive Capacity-Building Initiative for SSACs and SRAs (COMPASS) was launched in Bangladesh, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Cameroon, and Ghana. Initiated in 2020, COMPASS provides tailored assistance to meet States' specific safeguards needs.