In either case, will he allow a real contest, perhaps against Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog?

Its nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is charged with detecting nuclear weapons programs.

The new nuclear watchdog would function directly under the Ministry of the Environment.

In 1995 the UN's nuclear watchdog concluded that radiation levels around the atolls posed no threat.

The UN's nuclear watchdog has expressed "serious concerns" about research and development work by Iran, which the agency described as "specific to nuclear weapons".

The international agency's report is full of examples showing that Iran fooled the global nuclear watchdog for years.

The UN's nuclear watchdog last month rebuked Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

To critics, that confirms one of the agency's weaknesses as the world's nuclear watchdog.

The atomic energy agency, whose credibility as nuclear watchdog is at stake, is particularly worried.

As yet we do not have a European nuclear watchdog.