A new structure for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): A proposal for the future. Abstract: The IAEA is one of the most important international organization within the United Nations system, with a relevant mandate in the field of international peace, security, and the transfer of nuclear technology. To accomplish its mandate, the IAEA should carry out its activities in the most efficient and effective manner, taking into account the limited human and financial resources available in the Secretariat. For this purpose, the IAEA should periodically revise its organizational structure, the management practices, the contents of its programs, enhance the training of its staff, among other things. Key words: IAEA; IAEA internal structure; multidisciplinary working teams; Program Managers;
Introduction The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is one of the most important and efficiencies United Nations organizations, which is now facing new challenges and priorities in the fields of nuclear safety, nuclear terrorism, illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, transfer of nuclear technology, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, and nuclear disarmament, among others. According to Article II of the IAEA statute, “the Agency shall seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world. It shall ensure, so far as it is able, that assistance provided by it or at its request or under its supervision or control is not used in such a way as to further any military purpose (Statute of the IAEA).” The IAEA pursues its objectives by promoting the transfer of nuclear technology and know-how, encouraging the creation of an international culture of safety and reliability in the utilization of nuclear energy by its Member States, safeguarding nuclear materials so as to ensure that they are used exclusively for peaceful purposes and disseminating information on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology (IAEA, 2008). In the past years, many new demands and needs in the above-mentioned fields were presented to the organization by several IAEA Member States, with the purpose of enhancing the safety of its nuclear installations, to strength further the IAEA safeguards program, to promote the transfer of nuclear technology and the increase of the international cooperation for the development of peaceful nuclear energy programs in several countries. Based on these new demands and needs the Secretariat should establish a set of priorities and, if necessary, modify the organizational structure of the Secretariat and the current pillars of the organization. If the IAEA is going to take new responsibilities and implement more complex tasks in different fields of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the future, particularly in the field of safety and non-proliferation, without an important increase of the current level of human and financial resources, than it is indispensable that the IAEA Secretariat further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its working procedures at all levels.
The introduction of new modern management and administrative methods and techniques to carry out the IAEA mandate, and the adoption of specific changes in its internal organizational structure and working procedures, are important decisions that need to be made by the top management of the organization in the immediate future. The purpose of these decisions is to ensure that the IAEA will be ready to assume the new responsibilities and mandates to be assigned by its Member States and will implement them with greater efficiency. According to the IAEA report “20/20 Vision for the Future”, the Secretariat “will continue to vigorously pursue opportunities to improve its efficiency, both in its program activities, as well as in its management practices. In the timeframe to 2020, it will redouble its efforts through an institutionalized “quest for efficiency”, adopting proven practices while keeping its focus on its core activities and those which it can bring a high added value.” The new methodology for the preparation of the IAEA program, which was adopted a few years ago by the Director General, require the identification of specific and concrete objectives and results to be achieved by each one of the activities included in the IAEA program, as well as the identification of the resources needed to ensure its full implementation in the most effective manner. The introduction of this new methodology was an important decision adopted by the top management of the organization, with the aim of moving forward the activities of the organization and in the right direction. However, the introduction of this new methodology is not enough and additional actions are needed to put the organization in the best position to carry out its new responsibilities and mandates in the fields of safety and non-proliferation. One of these actions is the establishment of multidisciplinary working teams, integrated by professionals and other staff from different Departments and with full responsibility in the implementation of projects and activities included in the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs. It is expected that these teams increase further the efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat work, facilitate the use of the new methodology adopted for the preparation of the IAEA program, and ensure the implementation of the so-called “the one house approach concept”. The IAEA Secretariat has limited human and financial resources to take care, in an appropriate manner, the increase number of new requests presented by its Member States in the field of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In the past years, the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs increased continuously, in order to attend new demands and additional needs submitted by IAEA developing Members States. However, the human and financial resources needed to implement these new demands and additional needs were not increased in the same proportion, creating a difficult situation within the organization. Some of the changes in the IAEA organizational structure and working procedures adopted and introduced during the past four decades were approved with the aim of responding to new demands and needs submitted during that period by its Members States, as well as to face new challenges and priorities. The missions and goals of the organization were also changed, in order to take into account the new responsibilities assigned to the organization by its Member States in different fields of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. However, many of these changes does not address the main
organizational principles, based on which the IAEA was constituted in 1957, maintaining a rigid vertical organizational structure and the use of management and administration methods and techniques, which were at that time appropriate for the work of the organization but are now considered obsolete or generator of too much bureaucracy, affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat work. The objective of this paper is to present new ideas and proposals that could be considered in the future by the Director General and IAEA Member States, in order to increase further the efficiency and effectiveness of the Agency work, without the need to increase significantly the current level of human and financial resources. If these new ideas and proposals are adopted, then it could even be possible to reduce the current level of human resources requested by the organization to attend future new demands and needs ensuring, at the same time, the necessary resources for the full implementation of the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs approved by the Board of Governors and the General Conference. The reasons for the new proposal If an organization wants to succeed in achieving, in the most efficient and effective manner, the mission for which was established, then it should choose adequately its goals, identifying the correct course of actions or the best strategies to fulfil the adopted goals, and allocate the necessary resources to ensure the full implementation of the approved programs. To make sure that the adopted strategies work the organization needs to adopt the correct organizational structure. Choosing the correct organizational structure entails allocating tasks, responsibilities, and decision-making authority within the organization in the most effective manner. It is also important the appropriate splitting up of the internal organization structure into units and the adequate distribution of the authority among them. A new proposal for the IAEA organizational structure The design of the internal structure of an international organization will depends of its mission, goals, and pillars. The IAEA has identified the following three main pillars: a) Safeguards and verification; b) Safety and security; c) Science and technology (IAEA Bulletin 50-1, 2008). The work within in the IAEA Secretariat is carried out now through six Departments. These Departments are the following: a) Management; b) Nuclear Energy; c) Nuclear Safety and Security; d) Nuclear Sciences and Applications; e) Safeguards; f) Technical Cooperation (IAEA Bulletin 50-1, 2008).
If the three main pillars of the organization and the current organizational structure of the Secretariat are taken into account, then only in two cases a direct and clear relationship between these two elements can be easily established. These cases are the following: Department Department of Safeguards Department of Nuclear Safety and Security
Pillars Safeguards and verification Safety and Security
However, the third Agency pillar cannot be associated with the work of one single Department, but with the work of three different Departments. These Departments are the following: Department Nuclear Energy Nuclear Science and Applications Technical Co-operation
Pillars Science and technology Science and technology Science and technology
Based on the above mentioned information the following questions can be formulated: a) Why two IAEA pillars are associated directly with the work of two Departments while the third pillar is associated with the work of three different Departments? This situation should be maintained in the future or it is better for the organization to change it? b) Can these three Departments be combined in one single Department to carry out all tasks and activities included in the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs associated with these Departments? c) Can the pillars of the organization be changed in order to establish a direct and clear relationship between them and the internal structure of the Secretariat? d) Can the IAEA continue promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and, at the same time, implement its safety and safeguards programs in the future? In the case of the question included in (b) the answer is “yes”. The establishment of one single Department to carry out the current activities now implemented by the Departments for Technical Cooperation, Nuclear Energy, and Nuclear Science and Applications is an option that needs to be considered by the Director General. The reason is the following: The adoption of this option will reduce the current level of human and financial resources needed to implement the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs and will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Secretariat work. The adoption of this option will also facilitate the introduction of multidisciplinary working teams to implement the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs and will facilitate the implementation of the “one house approach concept” adopted by the Director General a few years ago. Establishing a direct relationship between the IAEA mission, goals, pillars, and the internal organizational structure of the IAEA Secretariat, the Director General could reduce, to the minimum possible, the current level of bureaucracy, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat work and reduce the waste of energy and resources within the organization in carrying out the approved programs.
The purpose to be pursued with this proposal is to reduce the staff and reallocate the resources of the organization’s budget, as much as possible, by rationalizing the work of the Secretariat during the implementation of the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs. The objective to be achieved with this proposal is to concentrate all promotional activities of the organization in one single unit within the Secretariat. If the new Department is established, then a simple, direct, and clear relationship between all current pillars of the IAEA and the internal organizational structure of the Secretariat can be established. One of the possible names for this new Department, if a decision to establish such Department is adopted by the Director General, could the following: Department of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. However, it is possible that due to the internal political situation within the IAEA, the proposal to merge three Departments in one single Department could be, at this stage, somehow difficult to be accepted by the Secretariat and IAEA Member States. If this is the case, then two steps in the process to establish the new Department can be considered. The first step will be merging the Department for Technical Cooperation and the Department of Nuclear Science and Applications. The name of the new Department could be the following: Department of Nuclear Science, Technology, and Cooperation1. The second step will be to merge this new Department with the Department of Nuclear Energy in the future. The name for the new Department could be the following: Department of Nuclear Energy, Science, Technology, and Cooperation. To implement this proposal the main changes to be introduced in the work of the organization during the first step are the following: 1) The main IAEA’s pillars will be the following: Nuclear power; Safeguards and verification, Safety and security; Science and technology. 2) The IAEA main organizational structure to be provisionally adopted is the following: Department of Management; Department of Nuclear Power; Department of Nuclear Safety and Security; Department of Safeguard; Department of Nuclear Science, Technology and Cooperation. In the second step of the restructuring process, the following are the changes to be introduced: __________ 1
Within the new Department, two main Divisions can be established. One Division will be in charge of all nuclear power activities; another Division will be in charge of all other promotional activities
1) The new main IAEA pillars will be the following: Safeguards and verification; Safety and security; Nuclear power, science, and technology. 2) The IAEA main organizational structure to be adopted is the following: Department of Management; Department of Nuclear Safety and Security; Department of Safeguard; Department of Nuclear Science, Technology, and Cooperation. In both scenarios, the introduction of multidisciplinary working teams should be considered thoroughly by the top management of the organization, with the purpose of increasing further the efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat work and to allow the “one house approach concept” to become a. In addition to what has been said above, it is important to stress the following response to the question included in (d): The IAEA promotes the separation between promotional activities related to the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the regulatory function in its Member States. The argument uses is the following: It is very difficult that one organization could carry out both activities respecting IAEA standards in the field of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and, at the same time, in the field of safety and safeguards. But what happens within the IAEA? In this case, the promotional activities and the regulatory work are included in its mandate. Using the same argument, perhaps it is time now to consider the possibility to divide the IAEA into two different international organizations: One with the mandate to promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the other with the mandate of supervising how this type of energy is used in the safest manner and for peaceful purposes only. Within the first organization, all activities currently carried out by the Departments of Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Science and Applications, and Technical Cooperation will be included in its mandate; the second organization will include all activities currently carried out by the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security and Safeguards. Multidisciplinary working teams To ensure the implementation of Major Programs, Programs, subprograms and technical cooperation projects under the new proposal in the most effective and efficient manner, a radical change in the way that the IAEA Secretariat is now implementing its mandate should be adopted by the top management of the organization. One of the main changes that the Secretariat should introduce in its current working procedures, mainly in the new Department to be created, is the establishment of multidisciplinary working teams, composed of different professionals and support staff. These teams will have the responsibility to implement all IAEA technical programs, including all technical cooperation projects approved by the Board of Governors.
However, there is no need to introduce the concept of a multidisciplinary working team to implement the IAEA Safeguard Program or to implement the new program assigned to the new organization to be created for safeguards and disarmament. If the IAEA is mandated to supervise the nuclear disarmament process at the international level, then a new division should be introduced within the Department of Safeguards named “Disarmament Division”. In this case, the new Department should be renamed “Department of Safeguards and Disarmament”. The multidisciplinary working teams could carry out its responsibilities under the new proposal in the following manner: Each Major Program included in the IAEA Regular Program will be implemented under the responsibility of one Deputy Director General (DDG)2. Each DDG’s office will have a Coordination and Support Section to assist him/her in carrying out his/her responsibilities, as well as to carry out all administrative activities associated with the work of the Department. The composition of this Section would be defined at a proper time; One Program Manager will be in charge of a specific Program. The Program Manager will be responsible for the preparation, revision, approval, supervision, and implementation of all technical cooperation projects related to the Program and will be responsible to carry out all administrative activities associated with it. The Program Manager will be also responsible for the work of all Project Officers in charge of implementing specific projects associated with each subprogram within a Program, independently of the region or the country (or countries) involved in its implementation. A Coordination and Support Office will be established, with the purpose of assisting Program Managers in carrying out his/her responsibilities and duties. The compositions of this office would be defined at a later stage; One Technical Manager will be responsible for all technical activities associated with a specific Program. The Technical Manager will be also responsible for the work of all Technical Officers in charge of all technical activities associated with a specific subprogram within the IAEA Regular Program and the implementation of all technical cooperation projects associated to this. Program. A Coordination and Support Office will be established, with the purpose of assisting Technical Managers in carrying out his/her responsibilities and duties; Project and Technical Officers will be in charge of specific technical cooperation projects under a concrete subprogram, independently of the region or the country (or countries) involved in the implementation of these projects. The number of Project and Technical Officers associated to specific Program/subprogram will depend on the number of technical cooperation projects and, in the specific case of the Technical Officers, on the number of activities and tasks included in each Program/Subprogram in the IAEA Regular Program; A limited number of technical cooperation projects under each specific subprogram will be approved each cycle, depending of the limited number of Project and Technical Officers that could be available at a specific time within the Secretariat. A limited number of support staff will assist Project and Technical Officers in carrying out their responsibilities and duties; _____________ 2
The number of DDGs will be reduced from 6 to 5.
Implementation Officer. For each Program an Implementation Officer, assisted with the necessary support staff, will be responsible for the implementation of all activities associated with a specific Program and with the preparation of reports and other relevant documents. Each Major Program will have two main components: The technical component and the cooperation component. These two components will have different budgets to support each of them. At the level of DDG two components of the IAEA budget will be allocated directly to him/her by the Director General, after being approved by the Board of Governors and the General Conference. The amount of resources to be allocated to each Program/subprogram under the responsibilities of a DDG will be decided by the DDG itself, based on the proposal prepared jointly by Program and Technical Managers. The Program Manager will be the Allotment Holder of the resources allocated to all technical cooperation projects within a specific Program. The Technical Managers will be the Allotment Holder of the budget allocated to implement all technical activities associates with a specific Program. Impact of the new proposal for the current Secretariat working procedures It is expected that the impact of the new proposal on the Secretariat working procedures could be the following: Application in a most effective manner the “one house approach concept”; The separation of promotional and regulatory activities carried out by the IAEA, in case that the IAEA is divided into two different organizations; Simplification, as much as possible, the current Secretariat internal structure, by reducing the number of DDGs and Departments, the Secretariat working procedures and the IAEA program structure; An increase of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Secretariat work; For each Major Program and Program (subprogram) approved there will be two main components, complementing each other. One component will be composed by the technical activities associated with the Major Program, Program (subprogram) included in the Agency Regular Program and the technical support for the implementation of technical cooperation projects. The other component would be associated with the management of technical cooperation projects within the same Major Program and Program (subprogram); For each Major Program and Program (subprogram) approved there will be two budgets, complementing each other. One budget will be used to implement the technical component associated with the Major Program and Program (subprogram) included in the Agency Regular Program and the other budget will be used to manage and implement the technical cooperation projects associated with each Major Program and Program (subprogram); Within each Program, Technical Managers will have the operational responsibility for the successful implementation of all approved projects and technical activities associated with it; A possible reduction in the IAEA staff and the reallocation of resources needed to implement the IAEA Regular and Technical Cooperation Programs;
All technical cooperation projects associated with a specific Program would be revised, approved, supervised, and implemented by the same group of staff working together as a team, under the supervision of one Program Manager and one Technical Manager, independently of the country or region in which each project will be implemented; A strong interaction among all members of the multidisciplinary working team and the application of a unified approach during the revision, approval, supervision, and implementation of the technical cooperation projects associated with a specific Program; An important simplification of the current internal administrative procedures for the revision, approval, supervision, and implementation of technical cooperation projects within a specific Program, due to the fact that all these activities will be carried out within the same multidisciplinary working team, independently of the country or countries involved in their implementation; The establishment of a clear relationship between the outcome of the IAEA Regular Program within a specific Program/subprogram and the preparation of technical cooperation projects in the same area, with the purpose of promoting the transfer of knowledge or technology obtained as the outcome of each Program/subprogram to all interested Member States; A real and an effective integration of activities associated with the formulation, revision, approval, and implementation of technical cooperation projects within one specific Program/ subprogram with other technical activities related to it3; The transfer of the experience in the implementation of specific projects associated with a specific Program/subprogram in a country, group of countries or region, to other countries and regions that have the same or similar needs, strengthening the so-called “South-South cooperation”; Preparation of regional or interregional projects to be carried out in a group of countries in one or more regions with similar needs, on the basis of merging similar technical cooperation projects presented by different countries within a specific Program/subprogram; The resources to be allocated to a specific Program/subprogram will depend on the priority that it has within the IAEA Regular Program and the number of countries that are going to participate in its implementation. A country will participate in a specific Program/subprogram, if it has the conditions to benefit from its outcome and if the mentioned Program/subprogram had been included in the Country Program Framework for this country or can be proved that this projectwill have an important impact on the economic and social development in the country; The elimination of duplication in the Secretariat working procedures by transferring the following activities carried out now by the Department for Technical Cooperation to other Departments. These chances are the following: The processing of all information related to the work of the new Department will be carried out by the Information Technology Division. One Section or Unit could be established within the mentioned Division to attend all technical cooperation information needs; _ _______________ 3
No technical cooperation projects will be approved in those areas not included in the IAEA Regular Program.
- The processing of all financial activities related to the implementation of technical cooperation projects will be carried out by the Finance and Budget Division. One Section or Unit could be established within this Division to process all financial information related to technical cooperation needs. These changes will not only allow the concentration of similar activities in one single unit within the Secretariat, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the Secretariat working procedures, but could reduce the number of staff needed to carry out these activities. One of the possible outcomes of these changes is a reduction of the IAEA staff and budget. Conclusion The IAEA is one of the most important international organization within the United Nations system, with a specific mandate in the field of international peace, security and the transfer of nuclear for peaceful purposes. The Peace Nobel Prize won by the organization in 2005 is the confirmation what has been said before. To accomplish its mandate, the IAEA should carry out its activities in the most efficient and effective manner, taking into account the limited human and financial resources available in the Secretariat and the level of the resources that could be available in the coming years. For this reason, the IAEA should periodically revise its organizational structure, the management process used by the Secretariat to carry out its responsibilities and duties, the contents of its programs, the working procedures used to implement the approved programs, among other things. Since 2000, the Director General has been promoting the introduction of important changes in the way the Secretariat is carrying out its activities, with the purpose of improving, as much as possible, the effectiveness and the efficiency of the Secretariat work. Many things have changed in the IAEA since 2000, but some problems still exist that are waiting for additional actions to be adopted by the Director General. The establishment of multidisciplinary working teams will allow the Director General to overcome some of the problems that are affecting the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. Finally, it is perhaps the appropriate time of considering another important change within the current IAEA mandate: the creation of two different international organizations, one with the mandate of promoting the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the second with the mandate of supervising how these promotional activities are carried in the safest manner out and to detect any military use of this type of energy.
References 1. Statute of the IAEA. 2. Making a Real Difference: Working for the IAEA, IAEA; Vienna, Austria, September 2008. 3. 20/20 Vision for the Future, Background Report by the Director General of the Commission of Eminent Persons, IAEA; Vienna, Austria, February 2008.
4. The next 40 years, the official IAEA statement delivered at the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 28 April 2008, IAEA Bulletin 50-1, IAEA, Vienna, Austria, September 2008.