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Nuclear Nonproliferation: Strengthened Oversight Needed to Address Proliferation and Management Challenges in IAEA's Technical Cooperation Program

GAO-09-275 Published: Mar 05, 2009. Publicly Released: Mar 31, 2009.
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Highlights

A key mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through its Technical Cooperation (TC) program, which provides equipment, training, fellowships, and other services to its member states. The United States provides approximately 25 percent of the TC program's annual budget. This report addresses the (1) extent to which the United States and IAEA have policies limiting member states' participation in the TC program on the basis of nuclear proliferation and related concerns; (2) extent to which the United States and IAEA evaluate and monitor TC projects for proliferation concerns; and (3) any limitations and challenges in IAEA's management of the TC program. To address these issues, GAO interviewed relevant officials at the Departments of State (State) and Energy (DOE) and IAEA; analyzed IAEA, DOE, and national laboratory data; and assessed State and IAEA policies toward the TC program.

Recommendations

Matter for Congressional Consideration

Matter Status Comments
If Congress wishes to make known that the United States does not support IAEA's policy of permitting TC projects in countries that State has designated as state sponsors of terrorism, or other countries where other concerns persist, it may wish to explicitly require--as it currently does with Cuba and has done in the past with Iran, Libya, and the Territories Under the Jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority--that State withhold a proportionate share of the U.S. voluntary contribution to the TC program that is equivalent to the amounts of TCF funding that would otherwise be made available to these countries. Alternatively, if Congress wishes to obtain additional information before making this decision, it may wish to require State to report to Congress explaining its rationale for not withholding a proportionate share of the U.S. contribution to the TCF for U.S.-designated state sponsors of terrorism.
Closed – Not Implemented
Legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2011 that would have required State to withhold a share of its voluntary contribution to IAEA proportional to the amount of TC funding IAEA had provided in 2007 and 2008 to countries the United States has designated as state sponsors of terrorism. However, Congress has not enacted legislation explicitly directing State to withold a proportionate share of the U.S. voluntary contribution to the TC program that is equivalent to the amounts of TCF funding that would otherwise be made available to these countries. State continues to strongly oppose such a witholding measure because, among other things, it would negatively impact the ability of the United States to achieve other objectives within IAEA.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore establishing a formal mechanism to facilitate greater and more timely information sharing on TC project proposals between IAEA and the United States and other countries--including detailed information on the TC proposals themselves, as well as the results of IAEA's internal proliferation reviews of the proposals--so that proliferation and other concerns can be identified and addressed early in the project development cycle.
Closed – Implemented
State officials reported that they had received greater information from IAEA on TC project proposals and had received this information earlier than previously, allowing for more timely and effective U.S. reviews of proposals for potential proliferation concerns.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore promoting a regular and systematic process for obtaining, retaining, and updating information on prior TC project fellows to better track where and how the knowledge and expertise they have obtained is being applied.
Closed – Implemented
In 2011, IAEA implemented a new electronic system call the "InTouch Platform" that will allow IAEA to remain in contact with TC program fellows. However, State officials noted that participation in the system is voluntary and former TC fellows are not required to update information on their continuing activities and whereabouts.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore strengthening the TC program's mechanisms for collecting member states' contributions to the TCF to include withholding from nonpaying states a percentage of TC assistance equivalent to the percentage of their target rate that they fail to contribute to the TCF.
Closed – Not Implemented
State officials told us that this recommendation had not been implemented by IAEA and that such a proposal was unlikely to be approved by the IAEA Board of Governors, as it would conflict IAEA member state rights for access to TC assistance.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore establishing criteria for determining when member states, especially those defined as high-income countries, no longer need TC assistance in particular fields and when such states could be graduated from further TC support altogether.
Closed – Implemented
According to State officials, no formal policy establishing criteria for determining when member states no longer require TC program assistance has been established by IAEA, as this would conflict with the right of IAEA member state access to TC support. However, according to State officials, IAEA has informally had discussions with some member states regarding their continuing need for TC assistance, and some states have voluntarily renounced their need for TC assistance in certain types of TC projects and areas. State officials believed that this would result in fewer high income countries receiving TC assistance and free up TC resources to support more work in lower income countries in the future.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore seeking to implement new results-based performance metrics for the TC program that establish specific national, regional, and interregional social and economic needs and measure the collective impact of TC projects in meeting those objectives.
Closed – Implemented
State officials told us that despite intial skepticism and hestiation by IAEA to adopt such metrics, IAEA has undertaken steps to foster results-based performance measures for TC projects. These steps have included IAEA sponsorship of an interregional TC project and issuance of guidelines that are designed to promote results-based management of TC projects by IAEA member states. Documentation IAEA provided to us in March 2011 noted that the TC program was developing standard performance indicators for each of the TC program's 30 fields of activities.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore focusing the TC program on a more limited number of high-priority technical areas to maximize the impact of program resources.
Closed – Implemented
In documentation provided to us in March 2011, IAEA reported that it had consolidated the field of activities covered by the TC program from 140 fields to 30 fields, notified member states that no more than 8 active TC projects will be supported per country, and undertaken a major management effort to close long-standing TC projects. According to IAEA, these steps were expected to lead to a smaller overall portfolio of TC projects. State officials told us that progress had been made in setting priorities for the TC program, including efforts to identify technical support areas where there was an active commercial presence and in which TC support could add little value.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore encouraging the TC program to reach out to private sector entities as part of its new partner and donor development strategy.
Closed – Implemented
According to State officials, outreach to the private sector has been a high priority of the new IAEA Deputy Director General for Technical Cooperation. State officials indicated that IAEA is doing its utmost to build stronger relationships with private companies, the World Bank, and other multilateral international organizations to increase the number of TC program partners and potential donors. State officials also acknowledged the commercial success of some TC programs, especially those in the medical radiation and cancer therapy area.
Department of State To address the range of proliferation and management concerns related to the TC program, the Secretary of State, working with IAEA and member states through the Board of Governors, should explore requesting member states to assess in their TC project proposals the prospects for commercialization of and private sector investment in the results of the projects. Such steps could include requiring information in the proposals on potential business plans, marketing strategies, and strategies for attracting commercial partners once IAEA support has concluded.
Closed – Not Implemented
In March 2011, we reported that no formal mechanism for assessing commercialization or private sector potential had been incorporated into the TC proposal development process, and State officials told us in August 2013 that there did not appear to have been any further progress made in this area since 2011.
Department of State To clarify and improve U.S. oversight of the TC program, the Secretary of State should undertake enhancing record-keeping and formally document management actions regarding the discussion, action, and disposition of TC project proposals that DOE and the national laboratories identify as having potential proliferation concerns.
Closed – Implemented
State has implemented a new e-mail and cable management system that State officials told us in March 2011 would improve storage and retrievability of their records regarding the discussion, action, and disposition of TC project proposals that DOE and its national laboratories identified during the interagency review process as having potential proliferation concerns. In addition, in August 2013, State officials indicated that there is now a person in the State office overseeing IAEA issues reponsible for keeping records related to potentially problematic TC proposals, including "record" emails and other correspondence related to interagency review of the proposals.
Department of State To clarify and improve U.S. oversight of the TC program, the Secretary of State should undertake issuing formal guidance with well-defined criteria--such as countries designated by State as sponsors of terrorism or gross human rights violators--that State should use as the basis for approving or rejecting TC fellowship requests for nuclear studies in the United States. This guidance could include, among other things, a list of specific countries from which State would not approve TC fellows that could be updated and revised annually, or as other circumstances warrant.
Closed – Implemented
In March 2011, State officials informed us that State has developed formal guidance establishing criteria for accepting or denying applications from TC fellows from foreign countries requesting opportunities to study nuclear issues at institutions in the United States. Among other things, this guidance states that TC fellowship applications for nuclear studies in the United States from countries listed as state sponsors of terrorism and from countries deemed gross human rights violators would not be approved.

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