ANNUAL REPORT 1 July 1973 - 30 June 1974 GC(XVIII)/525 Printed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Austria-July 1974 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY GC(XVIII)/525 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page INTRODUCTION 1-24 5 THE AGENCY'S ACTIVITIES 25 - 170 9 Technical co-operation 25 - 47 9 Food and agriculture 48 - 58 20 Life sciences 59 - 74 26 Physical sciences and laboratories 75 - 106 31 Nuclear power technology and economics 107 - 128 37 Nuclear safety and environmental protection 129 - 144 43 Information and technical services 145 - 150 47 Safeguarding peaceful nuclear activities 151 - 170 48 ADMINISTRATION 171 - 190 58 External relations and legal matters 171 - 177 58 Personnel 178 - 182 59 Finance 183 - 190 61 ANNEXES ANNEX A FELLOWSHIPS OFFERED OR PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE IN 1973 ANNEX B RESEARCH CONTRACTS ANNEX C CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA AND SEMINARS HELD DURING THE PERIOD 1 JULY 1973-30 JUNE 1974 ANNEX D STATUS OF FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE AGENCY ON 30 JUNE 1974 ANNEX E NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS UNDER AGENCY SAFEGUARDS OR CONTAINING SAFEGUARDED MATERIAL UNDER AGREEMENTS APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS - 3 - 525 List of abbreviations Agency International Atomic Energy Agency CINDA Computer Index of Neutron Data CRP Co-ordinated Research Programme ECAFE United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East EURATOM European Atomic Energy Community FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency IATA International Air Transport Association ICRP International Commission on Radiation Protection INIS International Nuclear Information System MHD Magnetohydrodynamics NEA Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development NPT Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (reproduced in document INFCIRC/140) SIDA Swedish International Development Authority UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP United Nations Environment Programme UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNSCEAR United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation WHO World Health Organization NOTE All sums of money are expressed in United States dollars. GC(XVIII)/525 INTRODUCTION General 1. The rise in the price of crude oil is accelerating the growth of nuclear power capacity in many countries. This affects most of the Agency's activities, particularly those relating to safety and environmental protection and nuclear power itself. It will also affect the Agency's technical assistance work, and, subsequently, its safeguards activities. 2. During 1973, nuclear power plants with a total capacity of nearly 60 000 MW were ordered. In the annual report for 1972-73 it was estimated that installed nuclear capacity throughout the world would reach about 315 000 MW by 1980. [1] This estimate as well as those for 1990 and the year 2000, may be substantially exceeded. There is also a growing interest in the use of nuclear energy as a source of process heat in industry. 3. If nuclear power is to fulfil these new expectations, a great effort must be devoted to solving the environmental problems that could be caused by a manifold increase in its use, and especially the problems of nuclear waste management. It is also essential to improve public understanding of these matters. 4. The increase in oil prices affects in particular the prospects for the use of nuclear energy in the developing countries. Not only are the standard (600-1000 MW) sizes of nuclear plant now competitive in most situations, but considerably smaller nuclear stations might prove to be competitive, if they were available. Tentative estimates suggest that the installation and use of 216 000 MW of nuclear capacity will be economically feasible in the developing countries during the period 1980-1990, as compared with last year's estimate of 152 000 MW. The Agency is revising the projections made in the market survey for nuclear power carried out last year in 14 developing countries[2], and is assisting Member States in their nuclear power planning studies, using the methodologies developed for the market survey. Technical co-operation activities 5. The changing energy situation will have a marked influence on the Agency's technical co-operation programme. The Agency will be called upon to provide more assistance in detailed feasibility studies for nuclear power plants, to advise developing countries on all aspects of the implementation of nuclear power projects and to help in training specialized personnel. 6. It is to be foreseen that Member States will give high priority to nuclear power in the requests for assistance which they submit to UNDP. It is necessary to try to ensure that adequate funds will also be available for the Agency's own technical assistance programme, a matter to which the Board has given particular attention during the period covered by this report. [3] In both February and June it considered a report by the Director General on a study made by the Secretariat of the financing of technical assis­ tance, and decided to present that report to the General Conference[4]. The Board at [1] See document GC(XVII)/500, para. 12. [2] For details, see document GC(XVII)/506. [3] The Director General's report on the provision of technical assistance with special reference to 1973 is submitted to the General Conference as document GC(XVIII)/INF/148. [4] In compliance with the Conference's request in Resolution GC(XVII)/RES/307, para. 2. - 5 - GC(XVIII)/525 present takes the view that the practice of financing the provision of technical assistance through voluntary contributions to the General Fund will have to be continued until an alternative mode of financing is decided upon. Meanwhile, the Board, in considering annually the level of the target for voluntary contributions for the following year, proposes to take into account, among other things, the need to meet technically sound requests for assistance received from developing Member States as well as the need to compensate for such factors as inflation and fluctuations in exchange rates. Impact of nuclear energy on the environment 7. The prospect of even larger nuclear power programmes has, if anything, intensified the contoversy about the impact of nuclear technology on the environment. In that context tentative plans were drawn up in February for an expansion of the Agency's work on the development of siting, safety and reliability standards for nuclear power plants, as well as its capacity to give practical help on safety questions to Member States that are introducing the use of nuclear power. Those plans were examined by a group of inter­ nationally eminent experts which the Director General convened early in April to advise him with regard to the objectives, scope, timing and estimated cost of the proposed activities, and in June the Board approved expansions of the programmes relating to nuclear power and to nuclear safety and environmental protection, as well as the plans for supplementary training activities in these domains. 8. The Agency is also giving high priority to the problems of nuclear waste management, and a standing technical advisory committee on one of the most important subjects in this field - high-level radioactive and alpha-bearing wastes - held its first meeting in Vienna in March 1974. 9. The Secretariat had also begun the revision of the document setting forth the Agency's health and safety measures[5], which were approved by the Board in 1960, with a view to increasing their practical usefulness to Member States. 10. It will be recalled that last year the Agency had already launched a special programme relating to the environment which was to be financed by voluntary contributions. Member States have now contributed $152 941 to this programme. The Agency has also received the first allocations of funds from UNEP, chiefly to expand the work of the International Laboratory of Marine Radioactivity in Monaco so as to include studies of the effect of certain non-radioactive pollutants on the sea and on marine life. Agriculture and water resources 11. There are many indications that developing Member States set great store by the programmes that the Agency and FAO are jointly carrying out in applying nuclear science and technology to increase and improve the world's food production, but a shortage of financial resources continues to hamper the expansion of those programmes. 12. In view of the impact of higher energy costs on the price of nitrogen fertilizers and the latters1 crucial role in increasing food production, especially in the developing countries, the joint FAO/IAEA research programme designed to assist Member States in establishing the most efficient and economical methods of using such fertilizers has become of even greater interest than formerly. 13. In the first half of 1974, an important decision for the future of food irradiation was taken by WHO, namely to confirm the temporary international acceptance given in 1969 to irradiation as a means for preserving wheat, wheat products and potatoes. [5] See document INFCIRC/18. - 6 - GC(XVIII)/525 14. The extent to which isotope hydrology is becoming an accepted tool for the development of water resources was shown by the attendance of almost 200 hydrologists at a symposium that the Agency held on the subject in March 1974 in Vienna. The Agency is continuing its subcontractual work for other United Nations organizations and in 1973 projects were undertaken in six developing countries. The International Nuclear Information System 15. As is shown in paragraphs 145 to 149 of the present annual report, INIS is developing satisfactorily and the number of items handled increased from 44 000 in 1972-73 to about 60 000 in 1973-74. It is expected that this programme will continue to grow until 1975 and then begin to level off.