The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency

This page has information about the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency (see below).

Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was concluded in 1968 and entered into force on March 5, 1970. It is the founding document of multilateral nonproliferation endeavours. The Acronym Institute has closely followed NPT developments since 1994.

NPT Preparatory Committee Meeting, 4 - 15 May 2009

The third PrepCom for the 2010 NPT Review Conference took place at the UN in New York from 4 - 15 May 2009. Chaired by Ambassador Boniface G. Chidyausiku of Zimbabwe, the mood amongst delegates was more positive than in recent years. During the first week the PrepCom heard a message from President Obama delivered by Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance and Implementation Rose Gottemoeller. The PrepCom also succeeded in adopting a provisional agenda for next year's Review Conference.

On Friday 8 May Ambassador Chidyausiku released his draft recommendations for the 2010 review conference. Following consultations with delegations revised recommendations were released on Wednesday morning. A third set of recommendations with suggested changes highlighted in the text was released on Friday 15 May but the Chair decided that there was insufficient time to reach consensus. Instead the PrepCom adopted an entirely procedural report. The recommendations will not be forwarded to the Review Conference as a working paper or a Chair's paper.

Reports from Reaching Critical Will

For speeches and further information from the PrepCom visit: www.reachingcriticalwill.org.

Towards 2010 and Beyond

Security Assurances for Everyone: A New Approach to Deterring the Use of Nuclear Weapons, by Rebecca Johnson, Disarmament Diplomacy No.90, Spring 2009
Challenges for the Non-Proliferation Regime and the Middle East, by Sameh Aboul-Enein, Disarmament Diplomacy No.90, Spring 2009
Proposals, Positions and Prospects: Issues facing the 2010 NPT Review Conference, by Michael Spies, Disarmament Diplomacy No.90, Spring 2009
Challenges for the NPT: Iran and North Korea, by Michael Spies, Disarmament Diplomacy No.90, Spring 2009

Background

The 2008 NPT PrepCom: Good Meeting, but was it Relevant? by Rebecca Johnson, Disarmament Diplomacy, No. 88, Summer 2008.

More Acronym coverage of the 2008 PrepCom is available at our NPT archive.

Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiatives

In recent months a range of non-proliferation and disarmament initiatives have been proposed. These include:

Government, Parliamentary and Official Speeches and Documents

Prime Minister Gordon Brown announces Road to 2010 plan, 16 July 2009
President Obama calls for Non-Proliferation Summit, G8 press conference, 10 July 2009
Joint Statement by President Dmitriy Medvedev of the Russian Federation and President Barack Obama of the United States of America, London, April 1, 2009
Barack Obama, President of the United States of America,
Speech at Hradcany Square, Prague, 5 April, 2009
Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for World without Nuclear Weapons, 17 March 2009
'Five Steps towards Abolishing Nuclear Weapons', IAEA Director-General Dr Mohamed ElBaradei article in Seuddeutsch, 4 February 2009
Toward a nuclear-free world: a German view, By Helmut Schmidt, Richard von Weizsäcker, Egon Bahr and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, International Herald Tribune, 9 January 2009
Lifting the Nuclear Shadow, Launch of UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Policy Information Paper, 4 February 2009
Let's Commit to a Nuclear-Free World, Dianne Feinstein Wall Street Journal Oped, 3 January 2009
A world without nuclear weapons, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband article, 8 December 2008
Debate on Disarmament, Letter from M. Nicola Sarkozy, President of the Republic to Mr Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General, 5 December 2008
Baroness Williams of Crosby Evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, including comments on the Rudd Commission, 5 November 2008
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speech on 'The United Nations and security in a nuclear-weapon-free world', 24 October 2008
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd initiates New International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Disarmament Diplomacy, Issue No.88, Summer 2008

Non-Governmental Initiatives

A New Strategic Posture for the United States and a Nuclear Weapons Complex to Support it, Nuclear Weapons Complex Consolidation (NWCC) Policy Network
From Counterforce to Minimal Deterrence:
A New Nuclear Policy on the Path Toward Eliminating Nuclear Weapons, Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris and Ivan Oelrich
The Trident and International Law: Scotland's Obligations, Conference Speeches, 3 February 2009
Letter to the Times by Field Marshal Lord Bramall, General Lord Ramsbotham and General Sir Hugh Beach, 16 January 2009
Former Los Alamos R&D chief, Stephen M. Younger on the NPT, 10 January 2009
Presentation by Dr Rebecca Johnson, Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, European Parliament, Socialist Group Conference on 'Peace and Disarmament: A world without nuclear weapons', 9 December 2008
Toward a nuclear-free world: a German view, By Helmut Schmidt, Richard von Weizsäcker, Egon Bahr and Hans-Dietrich Genscher, International Herald Tribune, 9 January 2009
Global Zero Launch, Paris, 9 December 2008
Oslo Conference on Achieving the Vision of a World Free of Nuclear Weapons, Jonas Gahr Støre, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Statement to the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, March 4, 2008 (excerpts)
Toward a Nuclear-Free World, by George P Shultz, William J Perry, Henry A Kissinger and Sam Nunn, 15 January 2008
A World Free of Nuclear Weapons, Wall Street Journal article by George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, 4 January 2007

NPT Key Texts and Data

External Links

For NGO opinion, statements and documents from the 2007 PrepCom and past NPT meetings see http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org.
For academic analysis and detail on the NPT, see the Monterrey Institute of International Studies and the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies.
United Nations page on the NPT
International Atomic Energy Agency

See also: Acronym Institute coverage of previous NPT Review Conferences and PrepComs.

International Atomic Energy Agency

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is responsible for safegards agreements under the NPT (Article III). Increasingly, questions are raised about the contradictions between effective fulfilment of this verification role and the IAEA's mission of promoting nuclear energy. The Acronym Institute does not cover the IAEA's work in general, but only in relation to the NPT. See also our section on Iran and Nuclear Weapons for coverage of IAEA engagement with Iran and the North Korea section for IAEA statements relevant to North Korea.

Reports and Statements

Yukiya Amano Appointed Next IAEA Director-General, Disarmament News Review, Disarmament Diplomacy, No.91, Summer 2009
No consensus on International Nuclear Fuel Bank, Disarmament News Review, Disarmament Diplomacy, No.91, Summer 2009
'Towards a New Global Security System', IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei speech, 20 July 2009
IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei Oped, 15 July 2009
IAEA Director-General Introductory Statement to the IAEA Board of Governors, 15 June 2009
IAEA Director-General Intervention on Non-Proliferation to the IAEA Board of Governors, 15 June 2009
IAEA Director-General Interview with Der Standard, 11 June 2009
IAEA Director-General Interview on Iran, 23 May 2009
IAEA Director General ElBaradei interview with Der Spiegel, 18 May 2009
IAEA Director General ElBaradei introductory statement to the Board of Governors, 2 March 2009
IAEA report on Iran, 19 February 2009
IAEA Director General ElBaradei OpEd, 16 February 2009
'Five Steps towards Abolishing Nuclear Weapons', IAEA Director-General Dr Mohamed ElBaradei article in Seuddeutsch, 4 February 2009
Reinforcing the Global Nuclear Order for Peace and Prosperity: The Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond - Commission of Eminent Persons Report, IAEA, May 2008
IAEA Director General Dr Mohamed ElBaradei on Nuclear Fuel Supply, 17 April 2008
20/20 Vision for the Future, report by IAEA Director General for the Commission of Eminent Persons, February 2008

Click here for older IAEA Statements and Documents

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