The Creation of the IAEA, 1953-1957

In 1957, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was founded in Vienna. To this day it is the largest international organization in Austria. The nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, the potential threat of nuclear terrorism, and debates on the future of nuclear power generation place the IAEA at the heart of todays international nuclear order. The project thus contributes to the emerging field of international nuclear history and aims to be the first comprehensive study on the creation of the IAEA. While the antagonism of the two superpowers of the Cold War was particularly shaped by the nuclear question and the arms race, the establishment of the IAEA showed that the United States and the Soviet Union nevertheless cooperated successfully in the field of nuclear energy. Why did the two countries collaborate on a sensitive issue such as nuclear energy and how was mutual understanding achieved? How did Cold War crises such as the Hungarian Uprising or the Suez Crisis of 1956 affect the formation of the new organization? The geographic representation of Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, and Europe in the discussions made the creation of the IAEA a truly global endeavor. During the four years of negotiations, the so-called developing countries underscored that the new organization should not exacerbate global inequalities, practice discrimination, or institutionalize atomic colonialism. What kind of an international organization did the negotiators aim to build? And why were the IAEA headquarters established in Vienna? A study on the origins of the IAEA offers the opportunity to reflect more generally on the questions of what the Cold War was and how it related to other developments in the history of the twentieth century. The creation of the IAEA also serves as a case study to look into the historical roots of the nonproliferation regime. The project uses an innovative multi-archival approach, which examines primary sources from archives in Austria and abroad. In doing so, the project also aims to access new resources such as the IAEA Archives in Vienna, which to date have only rarely been consulted by historians. In line with the FWFs open access policy, key primary documents will be published in a digital online archive at the end of the project. The project is intended to last four years (2015-2018). It will be based at the University of Viennas Department of Contemporary History, which is partner of the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP).

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a key institution in the global nuclear order. It is also the oldest and largest international organization in Austria. Understanding the creation of the IAEA has great significance for the study of global governance and the history of international organizations. Created at a time of the intense global tensions precipitated by the Cold War, the establishment of the IAEA stands out as a great success in international cooperation. Despite the destruction and horror witnessed by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was not until 1953, when United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his famous Atoms for Peace speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, that the world saw the necessity to develop the institutional basis for a nuclear regime. After Eisenhowers speech, it took only four years of negotiations to bring the IAEA into being. This represents an incredible feat, not least to agree on the organizations mandate, to negotiate the statute, to decide on its location, and to find key personnel, all at a time when the world was split between opposing blocs. When the IAEA Statute was negotiated, the nuclear world looked very different from today. The club of nuclear weapon states had three members, and the notion of nuclear nonproliferation had not yet entered into the policy lexicon. While the negotiators discussed roles for the IAEA that it would not, or only partially, receive (such as being the custodian of nuclear materials), they neglected aspects that are critical today, such as the threat of nuclear terrorism. Yet, the IAEAs central mandate as expressed in its statute is broad: to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology without furthering the use of this technology for military purposes. During a tense phase of the Cold War, the statute was drafted in a remarkable act of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union. At the same time, the developing nations feared that the IAEAs proposed safeguards system would divide the world into atomic haves and have-nots. By studying the ability of nation states to overcome such differences, their motivations, and their concessions in negotiations, critical lessons can be learned for global governance.