The eighth edition of the IAEA yearbook starts with an opening article containing excerpts from David Fischer's History of the International Atomic Energy Agency: The First Forty Years, written to mark the fortieth anniversary of the IAEA. Consequently, Parts A and B, dealing with the transfer of nuclear technology and the application of nuclear and radiation techniques, show examples illustrating programmes which for the past forty years have been major components of the IAEA's work. In Part C, developments in Member States and in the IAEA's activities are described, including the comparative assessment of different forms of electricity generation. Part D concentrates on the question of an international safety regime, foreseen in the Statute from the mid-1950s and having become particularly important with the entry into force of the Convention on Nuclear Safety in 1996. Part E describes the changes introduced as a result of events in the 1990s, which led to a strengthening of the safeguards system by new measures, including an 'additional protocol' under which countries provide the IAEA inspectors with easier access to information and locations. Part F, as usual, describes the structure of the IAEA and the relation with its Member States through its governing bodies.