Trevor Findlay - Transforming Nuclear Safeguards Culture: The Iaea, Iraq, and the Future of Non-Proliferation

The Belfer Center Studies in International Security book series is edited at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and is published by the MIT Press. The series publishes books on contemporary issues in international security policy, as well as their conceptual and historical foundations. Topics of particular interest to the series include the spread of weapons of mass destruction, internal conflict, the international effects of democracy and democratization, and U.S. defense policy.

A complete list of Belfer Center Studies in International Security books appears at the back of this volume.

Trevor Findlay

Belfer Center Studies in International Security

The MIT Press

Cambridge, Massachusetts

London, England

2022 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Findlay, Trevor, 1951 author. | Project on Managing the Atom (Harvard University), sponsoring body.

Title: Transforming nuclear safeguards culture : the IAEA, Iraq, and the future of non-proliferation / Trevor Findlay.

Other titles: Belfer Center studies in international security.

Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, 2022. | Series: Belfer Center studies in international security | This study is a product of the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. The research was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New YorkPreface. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021046104 | ISBN 9780262543736 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: International Atomic Energy Agency. | Nuclear nonproliferationIraq. | Nuclear energySecurity measuresIraq. | Nuclear industrySecurity measuresIraq. | Nuclear industryIraq. | Nuclear weaponsIraq.

Classification: LCC JZ5675 .F56 2022 | DDC 327.1/747dc23/eng/20211210

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046104

d_r0

Figure 1.2.Tuwaitha: Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Activities.

Figure 3.1.The Institutional Context of Safeguards Culture.

Figure 3.2.The IAEA Safeguards Community.

ABACCArgentine-Brazilian Agency for Accounting and Control

ACDAU.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

C&SContainment and Surveillance

CSAComprehensive Safeguards Agreement

CTBTComprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

CTBTOComprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization

CWCChemical Weapons Convention

DDGIAEA Deputy Director General

DPRKDemocratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea)

EAECEuropean Atomic Energy Community (also EURATOM)

ECOSOCUN Economic and Social Council

EMISElectro-Magnetic Isotope Separation

ESARDAEuropean Safeguards Research and Development Association

EURATOMEuropean Atomic Energy Community (also EAEC)

ExPoIAEA Office of External Relations and Policy Coordination

FAOUN Food and Agriculture Organization

GAOU.S. General Accountability (formerly Accounting) Office

HEUHighly-enriched uranium

IAECIraq Atomic Energy Commission

IAEAInternational Atomic Energy Agency

ICAOInternational Civil Aviation Organization

ICNNDInternational Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament

IMOInternational Maritime Organization

INFCEInternational Fuel Cycle Evaluation

INFCIRCIAEA Information Circular

INMMInstitute of Nuclear Materials Management

INPOInstitute of Nuclear Power Operations

INVOIraq Nuclear Verification Office

ISOInternational Organization for Standardization

ITUInternational Telecommunication Union

JCPOAJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action

JIUUN Joint Inspection Unit

kWKilowatt/s

kW(th)Kilowatt/s (thermal)

LEULow-enriched uranium

MWMegawatt/s

MW(th)Megawatt/s (thermal)

NAMNon-Aligned Movement

NASAU.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NEAOECD Nuclear Energy Agency

NGONon-Governmental Organization

NNWSNonNuclear Weapon State/s

NPTNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

NRCU.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

NTMNational Technical Means

OECDOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development

OMVOngoing Monitoring and Verification (Iraq)

OPCWOrganization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

OTAU.S. Office of Technical Assessment

QMSQuality Management System

RSACRegional System/s of Accounting and Control

SACIAEA Scientific Advisory Committee

SAGSIIAEA Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation

SALIAEA Safeguards Analytical Laboratory

SEERTState-Level Effectiveness Evaluation Review Team

SEGState Evaluation Group

SIPRIStockholm International Peace Research Institute

SIRSafeguards Implementation Report

SLAState-Level Approach

SLCState-Level Concept

SQPSmall Quantities Protocol

SSACState System/s of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material

TCTechnical Cooperation (IAEA)

UNAECUN Atomic Energy Commission

UNESCOUN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNMOVICUN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission

UNSCUN Security Council

UNSCOMUN Special Commission

UNSCRUN Security Council Resolution

VCDNPVienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

VERTICVerification Research, Training and Information Center

VICVienna International Center

WiNWomen in Nuclear

WINSWorld Institute for Nuclear Security

WMDWeapon/s of Mass Destruction

T his study is a product of the Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. The research was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The project was stimulated by the growing international interest in nuclear safety and security cultures and the likelihood that similar cultural concepts could also be applied to nuclear safeguards. It was also prompted by reports that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had sought to change its safeguards culture after the Iraqi non-compliance case of the early 1990s revealed the shortcomings of its safeguards system.

I began research for this project by reviewing the general literature on organizational culture and consulting management theory experts. Professor John Carroll, Morris A. Adelman Professor of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Sloan School of Management, was of great assistance in helping me understand the finer points of organizational culture theory. I then conducted archival and current documentary research on the origins of IAEA safeguards culture and its evolution since the Iraq case. One challenge in pursuing such research is that the IAEA Secretariat does not publicly report to its member states the details of its organizational, management, or personnel changes. The analysis in this book is necessarily hampered by such constraints.