International Atomic Energy Agency

Agency of the United Nations established in 1957 to advise and assist member countries in the development and peaceful application of nuclear power, and to guard against its misuse. It jointly won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize with its director general, Mohamed El Baradei, for its work in nuclear non-proliferation and the promotion of the safe use of nuclear energy during peacetime.

It has its headquarters in Vienna, and is responsible for research centres in Austria and Monaco, and the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, established in 1964. It expanded its nuclear safety programmes after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 and conducts inspections of nuclear installations in countries suspected of developing nuclear weapons, such as Iran and North Korea.