Pope Benedict XVI also praised the UN watchdog's work Sunday in Rome: "now more than ever, (it is) current and urgent to encourage the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, to promote progressive and negotiated nuclear disarmament and to favour the peaceful and secure use of nuclear technology" for the good of people and the environment.

The Vienna-based IAEA, which counts 144 member states, was set up in 1957 to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

It monitors compliance with the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has carried out verification missions in over 70 countries.

In 2005, ElBaradei and the IAEA received a Nobel Peace Prize for their work.

But the agency faces a fundamental dilemma as voiced by IAEA Deputy Director General David Waller in a recent speech: "On the one hand to develop and facilitate the application of those promising beneficial applications of nuclear technology, and, on the other, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons."

The West, especially the United States, suspects Iran for instance of seeking nuclear bombs under the cover of a civilian nuclear power program and the UN Security Council has already imposed two rounds of sanctions on Tehran to get it to suspend enrichment of uranium, a potential material for atom bombs.

Iraq, an NPT signatory state, also developed a secret nuclear weapons programme under Saddam Hussein, Waller pointed out in his speech.

But the IAEA scored some successes in 2003 when Libya decided to abandon its nuclear weapons programme and this month when North Korea welcomed agency inspectors back into the country for the first time since December 2002 to monitor the shutdown of its main nuclear reactor at Yongbyon.

Besides the five acknowledged nuclear powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- four other countries have or are believed to have nuclear weapons: India, Israel and Pakistan, which have not signed the NPT, and North Korea.

ElBaradei was keen to point out at a conference in South Korea earlier this month however that the IAEA also carries out work in other areas, such as in agriculture and health, using radiation to develop new crop varieties and eliminate insect pests like the tse-tse fly.

The agency also monitors some 437 nuclear power reactors in 30 countries, which supply about 15.2 percent of the world's electricity, he said.

Special events and exhibits were organised in the run-up to the anniversary but the day itself was celebrated without pomp and circumstance Sunday.

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