Nuclear Disarmament: Challenges, Opportunities and Next Steps.

BENCHMARK II

Student: Olga Tokareva

Teacher: Elena Gubina

Severskaya Gymnazia

Seversk 2009

CONTENTS

 

  1. Nuclear Non-Proliferation TreatyÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ3
  2. Other Treaties. Types and directionÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ4
  3. IAEA. Basic tasksÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ8
  4. Laws and agencies in Russian Federation. RosatomÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.10
  5. Japan. Special nuclear situationÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.11
  6. Modernization of nuclear weapons. Who and Why?......................................................13
  7. References ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ..15

 

 

 

 

 

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

History and methods of non-proliferation promotion

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT) is one of the most prominent international Treaties on non-proliferation. It was signed in 1968. Not all the countries participate in this Treaty. The participants are 189 countries, however, there are such that do not participate in it so their activities in the nuclear energy sphere cannot be controlled and those counties are a potential danger for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear technologies.

ÒWho is WhereÓ in NNPT.

The map below shows which countries have signed and ratified the treaty, which countries agree on its terms and which do not.

What role does NNPT play? What are its terms?

I studied the articles of the Treaty and made two most important conclusions which are the essence of the nonproliferation problem.

*   The Participant of the Treaty if they are NWS commits not to pass their technologies of nuclear weapons production, their supplies to other states especially those possessing nuclear weapons.

*   Those countries not possessing nuclear weapons commit not to accept ready-made nuclear weapons or any technologies for their production.

Nonetheless, those two points do not exclude the work with nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

In this case, NNPT controls the world Ònuclear situationÓ and prohibits nuclear proliferation.

Still, NNPT is not a single treaty which obliges its participants to follow its terms regarding nuclear weapons and energy. There exist a great number of various treaties and agreements that observe and fulfill definite terms stated by the Treaty.

 

There are three types of treaties:

á      Unilateral. This treaty is the one when only one state expresses an obligation to control domestic control of nuclear issues.

á       Bilateral. This treaty is signed by two states that are obliged to observe its terms in future.

á       Multilateral. The most wide-spread type of agreements. The number of participants is always different; such treaties often include lots of participants.

 

I have studied various treaties of various types. I have made up a table where I have shown the main treaties on non-proliferation and disarmament considering several facts: date of issuance, type (number of participants), participants and its direction.

Name of Document

Date of Issuance

Type

Participants

Direction

First Resolution of the General Assembly

24 January 1946

Multilateral

The UN General Assembly

Seeks ways to eliminate atomic weapons from national armaments through the establishment of a commission to deal with the problems raised by the discovery of atomic energy.

The Antarctic Treaty

1 December 1959

Multilateral

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, the French Republic, Japan, New Zealand,

Norway, the Union of South Africa, the USSR, the UK, the USA

The Treaty demilitarizes the continent. It provides each party with the right to full on-site and aerial inspection of all Antarctic installations in order to verify these provisions.

The Partial Test Ban treaty

5 August 1963

Multilateral

113 Member States

The treaty banned the testing of nuclear weapons anywhere but underground and was a significant step in slowing down the nuclear arms race.  The main aims of the treaty sought to ensure the safe testing of new devices and prevent undue irradiation and release of nuclear fallout into the atmosphere.

The Outer Space Treaty

27 January 1967

Multilateral

The USSR, the UK, and the USA

The treaty is of note for banning the weaponization of space, in particular the placement of weapons in orbit or on the moon.

Treaty of Tlatelolco

14 February 1967

Multilateral

 

It bans the manufacture, storage, or testing of nuclear weapons and the devices for launching them in Latin America and the Caribbean - The first nuclear weapons free zone.

The Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)

5 March 1970

Multilateral

All Member States Except India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea

It commits nuclear and non-nuclear weapon States to nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Sea-Bed Treaty

11 February 1971

Multilateral

87 Member States

It bans the emplacement of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction on the ocean floor and its subsoil.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I); Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty

26 May 1972

Bilateral

The USA and the USSR

Both Treaties aimed to stabilize the status quo between the two parties through the limitation of strategic offensive arms and anti ballistic missile systems.

SALT II

18 June 1979

Bilateral

The USA and the USSR

It set further limits of strategic offensive arms.

The South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (Treaty of Rarotonga)

6 August 1985

Multilateral

The Nations of the South Pacific

It prohibits the testing, manufacture, and stationing of nuclear explosive devices, and the dumping of nuclear waste, within the zone.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

8 December 1987

Bilateral

The USA and the USSR

It eliminates the entire category of intermediate and shorter-range nuclear weapons.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) Treaty

31 July 1991

Bilateral

The USA and the USSR

It reduces strategic nuclear weapons to 6,000.

The Lisbon Protocol to START I

23 May 1992

Multilateral

The Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine

These countries assumed the obligations of the former USSR under the START I , and Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine adhered to the NPT as non-nuclear weapon States Parties.

The START II Treaty

3 January 1993

Bilateral

The Russian Federation and the USA

It limits strategic nuclear weapons to 3,500.

The Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Bangkok Treaty)

15 December 1995

Multilateral

All Member States in Southeast Asia

Each State Party commits not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons; station or transport nuclear weapons by any means; or test or use nuclear weapons. Each State Party also undertakes not to dump at sea or discharge into the atmosphere anywhere within the Zone any radioactive material or wastes.

African-Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba)

11 April 1996

Multilateral

The Member States of the African Continent

The entire African continent agreed not to manufacture or acquire control of nuclear weapons and seek or receive any assistance in the research on, development stockpiling, manufacture or acquisition, or possession of any nuclear explosive device throughout the region.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)

24 September 1996

Multilateral

177 States

CTBT bans all nuclear text explosions in all environments for all time.

Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ)

8 September 2006

Multilateral

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

The treaty bans the stockpiling, acquisition, possession, manufacture, or control of nuclear weapons and or any explosive device.

Table is made by Tokareva Olga. Information adopted from 1

 

As we can see from the table above not all the countries take part in the main non-proliferation and disarmament treaties. There are states which being participants of one or several treaties violated their terms and acquired the status of the Òdangerous stateÓ.

Such countries are India, Pakistan, Iraq and North Korea. I have made a table containing that information.

Country

The broken Treaty (and date of its Issuance)

Participant of this Treaty for that time or not

Actions

India

NPT (1970)

CTBT (1996)

Both countries arenÕt the participants of both Treaties

In May 1998 these countries have successfully spent nuclear tests and became NWS.

Pakistan

Iraq

NPT (1970)

Participant

Iraq develops and carries out Nuclear program. Also it doesnÕt destroy its potentials to creation of the nuclear weapon. 

KNDR

NPT (1970)

CTBT (1996)

Participant

Participant

 - KNDR develops and carries out Nuclear program. Declares an output from NPT.

  - In 2006 KNDR have spent nuclear test.

The table was made with the help of the following material:

o   Presentation by G.M. Pshakin ÒInternational control and IAEAÕs safegueardsÓ

o   http://www.washprofile.org/en/node/5466

o   http://www.nti.org/i_russian/russian_tutorial_02/russian_tutorial.swf

 

In due course mankind has realized all the dimensions and danger of nuclear weapons, that is why plenty of various Treaties and Agreements, more or less limited nuclear activity of the states participants, were made. These Treaties are notable for sphere of application, direction and numbers. The main and the most important of them is The Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Though, not all the countries have signed it: India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have not signed it. It means that they threaten peace and nuclear safety in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IAEA

Basic Tasks

The definition given by a ÒLaw dictionaryÓ:

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — founded in 1955, is an intergovernmental organization which is part of United Nations system on the basis of the agreement signed with UN in 1956. The IAEA is authorized: to encourage and support research, development and practical use of nuclear energy in the world in peaceful uses; intercede in service and material exchange between its Members at their will; to provide service, material and equipment to develop atomic energy for peaceful uses; encourage scientific and technical information exchange in peaceful use of nuclear energy; take safety measures to prevent nuclear materials use in war purposes; determine and establish standards in the safety and healthcare area together with other responsible UN agencies and institutes.

In 2008 144 states were the IAEAÕs participants. ÇThe mission of the Agency is to achieve wider nuclear energy use to preserve peace, health and well-being in the world. The Agency also observes that the help which is provided by the Agency itself or on its request or under its supervision and control would not contribute to any war purposeÈ.

 Taken from the Statute of IAEA. 2

Central Office of IAEA in Vienna, Austria. ˆ

 

The basic tasks of IAEA.

*     Control and Safeguards. The IAEAÕs representatives in all the Member States observe Ònuclear situationÓ in the country, for instance, if nuclear energy use is not changed to war purposes from peaceful ones and if nuclear technologies are not distributed to other countries.

*    Safety and Integrity. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 made a great impact on the IAEAÕs activities. As a result, the Agency was imposed a responsibility to control nuclear weapons in the world. The Agency performs this duty by developing new treaties and agreements which have become rather important recently to ensure security. Those agreements provide the basis of creating internal nuclear weapon control systems.

*    Science and Technology. One of the IAEAÕs functions is distribution of civil nuclear technologies to other countries to provide more or less stable development of countries in various spheres of its use, for example, in medicine.

Six departments deal with these tasks:

n  nuclear energy (nuclear power industry, fuel cycle and nuclear wastes);

n  nuclear safety (nuclear safety, radiation safety and wastes safety);

n  nuclear sciences and applications (civil use of nuclear technologies);

n  safeguards (civil use control);

n  technical cooperation (technology distribution);

n  management (legal advice and administrative support). 2

 

 

Treaties are not enough to control peaceful uses of nuclear energy, so International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was founded in 1955 to encourage and support research, development and practical use of nuclear energy. The IAEA representatives in all Member States observe Ònuclear situationÓ in the country. Besides, each country has its own agencies, organizations as well as laws which control production and usage of nuclear energy inside the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laws and Agencies in Russian Federation

Nuclear weapons verification measures in Russia:

The state control legal framework of nuclear weapons and technologies nonproliferation are:

á Federal Law of Russian Federation ÒExport Control ActÓ /35/;

á Customs Code of the Russian /37/;

á Law of Russian Federation ÒOfficial Secrets ActÓ /38/.

The main structure performing integrated management in atomic energy sphere is currently the State Corporation ÇRosatomÈ.

The Ministry for Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation was established on January 29, 1992. It was reorganized as the Federal Agency on Atomic Energy on March 9, 2004. In November 2007 the agency was transformed to a state corporation.

Rosatom controls nuclear power holding Atomenergoprom, nuclear weapons companies, research institutes and nuclear and radiation safety agencies. It also represents Russia in the world in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy and protection of the nonproliferation regime. 3

The Corporation structure includes three main units – nuclear-energetic complex (Atomenergoprom), enterprises of Nuclear weapon complex, institutes of Fundamental Science and enterprises of Nuclear and Radiation safety. See the table below.

 

 

Japan

Special nuclear situation.

Nuclear weapon, which was created by different countries, was tested uncountable number of times. However it has been applied only once. The "experimental" country became Japan. Consequence of this attack became the special nuclear position of this country. This position  differs from the other countries. I have considered a situation in Japan from the various points of view.

Nuclear Weapons

Creation and test of nuclear weapons are forbidden to Japan as the only country having an experience of nuclear attack. Also Japan cannot create and work with nuclear weapons because this country was one of the aggressors in World War II. (The second aggressor was Germany. Nowadays this country hasnÕt got nuclear weapons either.)

If  Japanese nuclear program in the military purposes is declared or found out, Japan should return a delivered material to the country-manufacturer. Then JapanÕs program of the nuclear energy, which delivers more than one third of energy, will be cut off from world deliveries of natural uranium, enriched uranium and the equipment. 4

 

 

Nuclear Energy

ÒDespite being the only country to have suffered the devastating effects of nuclear weapons in war time, Japan has embraced the peaceful use of nuclear technology to provide a substantial portion of its electricity. Today nuclear energy accounts for almost 30% of the countryÕs total electricity production, from 47.5 GW of capacity (net). There are plans to increase this to 37% in 2009 and 41% by 2017.Ó 5  The nuclear industry branch in Japan extends and nowadays   53 nuclear reactors work there . The map of its situation and type of each reactor is showed below.

 

However, there is lack of necessary resources in Japan. Therefore almost all branches depend on import of fuel.

 

Japanese laws and Control Agencies

á      1955 – Was issued The Basic Law about Nuclear Energy, which limits use of nuclear technology in peace purposes and prohibits it in military ones.

á      1956 – Occurrence of the Commission on the Nuclear energy, Agency of a science and techniques, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and Atomic Fuel Corporation (AFC).

á      1967 - AFC  is renamed in PNC: ÇPower Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development CorporationÈ

á      1998 – Transformation AFC in JNC,  Japanese Institute of  Nuclear Cycle development .

á      2005 – Creation of Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)

 

Membership in International organizations and treaties

 

 

 

 

Nowadays Japan is the only country to have suffered the effects of nuclear weapons. The situation of this country essentially differs from the other states, i.e. it is neither allowed to produce nor to use nuclear weapons. Now this country is a patron of nonproliferation and an advocate of peaceful use of nuclear energy. There are 53 working atomic reactors in the country. Japan takes an active part in IAEA activities and supports its sanctions regarding those countries which break Ònuclear lawsÓ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Modernization of nuclear weapons

Who and why?

 

People all over the world realize the danger of nuclear weapons, thatÕs why a lot of treaties, agreements are being created. Most of the countries stand for nonproliferation and disarmament except Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. But in spite of all treaties and reduction of nuclear weapons NWS go on modernization of their armaments. See table below.

 

 

Country

Actions

Russia

Spends checkups and improves present warheads, conducts laboratory works

China

Develops long-range submarine-launched ballistic missiles

The USA

Has a $4.5 billion per year program largely to ensure maintenance of weapons design and testing capability, weapons production capacity, and weapons modification capacity

India

Conducted five nuclear weapons tests in May 1998 (including one thermonuclear explosion)

Pakistan

Announced that it conducted six nuclear tests later in that same month

Israel

Has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; a part of IsraelÕs nuclear objects are not controlled by IAEA (it means that nuclear weapons in these objects can be modernized).

Table is made by Tokareva Olga. Information adopted from 6; 8

 

All these countries officially declare that they have been doing laboratory researches in the field of nuclear weapons while they say that Ç"deterrence" is the basis of their nuclear weapon programs. È  

 

What is the main reason of modernization of nuclear stockpiles in the world?  I have found the answer in the interview with Robert Gates US Minister of Defense 30 October 2008. Here are some arguments for modernization from the side of USA:

 

 

These arguments characterize only one country. But the same arguments could be put forward by any other country: that is defense from potential threat.

 

Despite all the countries in the world are concerned by the militarization of nuclear weapons, they continue modernization of their armaments. This is at variance with NPT but all the countries consider their own defense and deterrence to be most important issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of references which have been used for citations:

 

1 - http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/dnp/sub2.asp?ipage=timeline

2 - http://www.un.org/russian/ga/iaea/

3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosatom

4 - http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf79.html

5 - http://www.iwep.kz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2111&Itemid=63

6 - http://www.ieer.org/ensec/no-6/dangers.html

7 - http://www.segodnya.ua/news/12086477.html

8 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel

 

References and materials, which helped me understand a theme: