ElBaradei, IAEA Accept Nobel Peace Prize

In accepting the Nobel Peace Prize Dec. 10, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei sought to place issues of nonproliferation and disarmament within a broader context of relations between developed and developing countries. ElBaradei shared the prize with the agency, represented by Ambassador Yukiya Amano, the chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors.

ElBaradei, an Egyptian diplomat, said that, after the end of the Cold War, many East-West differences had been erased but those between North and South had persisted, spurring weapons proliferation.

“In regions where conflicts have been left to fester for decades, countries look for ways to offset their insecurities or project their ‘power,’” ElBaradei said. “In some cases, they may be tempted to seek their own weapons of mass destruction, like others who have preceded them.”

Moreover, pointing to the fact that there are still 27,000 nuclear weapons 15 years after the Cold War and that these arsenals were on what he described as hair-trigger alert, ElBaradei said that the presence of these weapons encourages other countries to acquire their own arsenals.

“With the spread of science and technology, as long as some of us choose to rely on nuclear weapons, we continue to risk that these same weapons will become increasingly attractive to others,” ElBaradei said.

To reduce nuclear dangers, ElBaradei called on the nuclear-weapon states to accelerate disarmament efforts. He also called for greater efforts to secure nuclear and radiological materials and to provide the IAEA with greater inspection authority, information, resources, and political backing.

ElBaradei alluded to the fact that the agency has clashed with the administration of President George W. Bush on several occasions, particularly in the lead-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. During that period, ElBaradei rebutted administration claims that Iraq was reviving its nuclear weapons program. Since the invasion, several U.S. investigations have backed up ElBaradei’s assertions.

“We are limited in authority. We have a very modest budget. And we have no armies,” he said. “But armed with the strength of our convictions, we will continue to speak truth to power.”

In addition, he reiterated his frequent call that the international community should agree to restrict the ability of countries to produce plutonium and enriched uranium, which can be used for fuel in civilian nuclear programs but are also essential for nuclear weapons. His plans call for the establishment of a reserve fuel bank under IAEA control to ensure that countries have alternative supplies of fuel.

Still, he acknowledged that these steps would not be sufficient to bring the danger of nuclear weapons under control. That, he said, would require a new way of thinking.

“Imagine a world where we would settle our differences through diplomacy and dialogue and not through bombs and bullets. Imagine if the only nuclear weapons remaining were the relics in our museums,” he said in his peroration. “Imagine that such a world is in our grasp.”