International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to promote the "peaceful uses of nuclear sciences and technology." To accomplish this mission, IAEA staff inspect nuclear facilities, develop standards to ensure safe operation of nuclear facilities, and act as a hub for scientific and technical information on peaceful nuclear applications. IAEA, created in 1957, is an autonomous agency, but it does report to both the UN General Assembly and Security Council. Its Web site is really more detailed than it appears. It does take some searching skill, but the results are worth it.

The Publications section offers an incredible amount of detailed information on virtually every aspect of nuclear energy and ancillary subject matter. There are numerous free documents, newsletters, factsheets and FAQs, voluminous reports on numerous nuclear energy topics, and briefs that cover everything from food irradiation to the identification of radioactive sources throughout the world. There are also materials for purchase that are useful to researchers and scholars. The News Centre contains stories and multimedia features of interest to journalists and the general public. Readers can subscribe to various news feeds or follow IAEA via social networking tools to learn about new site content. Overall, an excellent resource for those interested in learning about basic to advanced nuclear energy subject matter.  ACRL's Choice August 2011 Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.