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Short abstract:

This paper collectively argues that the international nuclear regulatory system that was created by the United Nations during the second half of the 20th century has been highly asymmetrical, aiming to sustain the power of the nuclear haves.

Long abstract:

This paper collectively argues that the international nuclear regulatory system that was created by the United Nations during the second half of the 20th century has been highly asymmetrical, aiming to sustain the power of the nuclear haves. Using the complex, often powerless UN international regulatory system, the leadership of the big nuclear powers have set the scenery of today’s conflicts. Having looked meticulously at several UN archives, we are able to trace the negotiations among the different UN international organizations that took place during the first decade after the Second World War over nuclear regulation and led to the establishment of the IAEA. Starting from the late 1950s, the IAEA has promoted the establishment of world peace based on nuclear regulation and development. Even though there were numerous UN related organizations and affiliated agencies that had developed programs and expressed direct interests in the nuclear field, the IAEA eventually won the day. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) were sidelined concerning nuclear matters. Four authors coming from several different disciplines, sat around the same table, put together their archival material from different UN archives, their methodologies and knowledge in a hands-on exercise on how to write the transnational history of nuclear regulation.