.

UAE Yearbook 2010
in this regard, the uae and the iaea signed on 8 april 2009 an additional protocol to the nuclear safeguards agreement, establishing a procedure for stringent inspections of nuclear facilities and operations, and further strengthening the nation s commitment to non-proliferation as it evaluates a potential civil nuclear energy programme. the iaea describes the safeguards systems as a confidence-building measure, an early warning mechanism , in its work to ensure that nuclear programmes are not used for nuclear weapons purposes. among other measures, the additional protocol establishes a procedure for snap inspections of nuclear facilities, and provides guidelines for allowing inspectors access to facilities and information. the iaea s board of governors had approved the uae s request to sign up to the model additional protocol on 3 march 2009. the uae joined the non-proliferation treaty in 1996, and signed the iaea agreement on nuclear safeguards in 2003. the uae federal government has also signed landmark nuclear cooperation agreements with a number of foreign governments. on 15 january 2009, the uae and the united states signed a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation that enhances international standards of nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security. known as a 123 agreement , after section 123 of the us atomic energy act, the new pact establishes the required legal framework for commerce in civilian nuclear energy between the two countries. the nuclear agreement was approved by us president barack obama in april and came into force in december 2009. another memorandum of cooperation was signed with japan on 19 january 2009, while additional agreements had earlier been signed with britain and france. in a statement on 28 december 2009, the french government expressed its readiness to join the uae in implementing its peaceful nuclear energy programme and reiterated its commitment to the strategic partnership with the uae. finally, within the framework of its clearly stated commitment to international co-operation in the field of nuclear power, on 7 august 2008, the uae contributed us$10 million towards a fuel bank proposal originally launched by the nuclear threat initiative (nti) in 2006. the iaea praised the uae donation as another important milestone towards supporting mechanisms for non-discriminatory, non-political assurances of supply of fuel for nuclear power plants. left: uae president h.h. sheikh khalifa bin zayed al nahyan and lee myung-bak, president of the republic of korea, observe cooperation agreements being signed by h.h. sheikh abdullah bin zayed, uae foreign minister, and lee youn ho, korean minister of knowledge economy. 135 > nuclear programme
Powered by fluidbook tm