Part of: GS Prelims and Mains GS-II- International Organisations
Context: IAEA has reported that Nuclear-armed North Korea appears to have restarted its plutonium-producing reprocessing reactor indicating that North Korea is expanding its banned weapons programme.
The development on the 5-megawatt reactor in Yongbyon — North Korea’s main nuclear complex — comes with nuclear talks between North Korea and US at a standstill.
IAEA inspectors were kicked out of North Korea in 2009, and the agency has since monitored it from outside.
About International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
It is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
The IAEA was established as an autonomous organisation on 29 July 1957.
Though established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and UN Security Council.
The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
India joined IAEA in 1957.
In 2005, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work for a safe and peaceful world.
