8/6/2019 Amending the Non Proliferation Regime Jozef
Glodblat
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Joze Goldblat is Resident Senior Fellow at the United Nations
Institute or Disarmament Research.
Jozef Goldblat
Amending the non-proliferation regime
To strengthen the international norm banning the prolieration o
nuclear weapons, the 1968
Non-prolieration Treaty (NPT) must be adapted to the present
national security requirementsand the level o technological
development in the feld o nuclear energy. This could be achievedby
amending the treaty so as to remove its shortcomings and fll the
gaps that are becoming increasinglyapparent. Among the possible
amendments that could be envisaged:
Under Article I nuclear-weapon parties have undertaken not to
transer nuclear explosive devices toany recipient, directly or
indirectly, and not to assist, encourage or induce any
non-nuclear-weaponstate to manuacture nuclear weapons.
Recommendation:The ban on indirect transer to any recipient must
be understood to covertranser through military alliances. The
obligation not to assist, encourage or induce the manuactureo
nuclear explosive devices should be binding on non-nuclear-weapon
parties as well.
Under Article III(2)supplies o nuclear material or equipment to
any non-nuclear-weapon state maytake place i they are subject to
the International Atomic Energy Agency saeguards (IAEA) requiredby
this article.
Recommendation: The required saeguards must be comprehensive,
that is, applied in all peaceulnuclear activities o the supplied
state. All parties should adopt the 1997 Protocol Additional to
the1972 Saeguards Agreement between states party to the NPT and the
IAEA. A global register ostocks o plutonium and highly enriched
uranium should be established and regularly updated.Withdrawal o
nuclear material rom international control or non-explosive
purposes (such aspropulsion) must be strictly circumscribed.
Under Article IVall parties have the inalienable right to use
nuclear energy or peaceul purposes.
Recommendation: Parties may possess components o the peaceul
nuclear uel cycle subjectto appropriate IAEA controls. Supplies o
uel or civilian nuclear reactors in countries notproducing such uel
should be internationally guaranteed. Highly enriched uranium used
orcivilian purposes should be replaced by low-enriched uranium.
Attacks on nuclear installationsshould be prohibited.
8/6/2019 Amending the Non Proliferation Regime Jozef
Glodblat
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ideas for peace and securityone 2009
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UnderArticle Vpotential benefts rom peaceul applications o
nuclear explosions are to be madeavailable to non-nuclear-weapon
parties.
Recommendation:This article should be deleted. It is now
generally recognized that conventionalexplosives can produce
results equivalent to those o nuclear explosives, without posing
health orenvironmental risks.
UnderArticle VI the parties have pledged to negotiate measures
relating to the cessation o thenuclear arms race and measures
relating to nuclear disarmament.
Recommendation: It should be made explicit that measures
relating to the arms race includeadherence to the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the conclusion o a fssilematerial cut-o
treaty, whereas measures relating to disarmament should lead to the
eliminationo nuclear weapons. Negotiations must be continuous and
the agreements reached must be oindefnite duration.
UnderArticle VII the right o any group o states to assure the
total absence o nuclear weapons intheir region is afrmed.
Recommendation: This right should be reinorced by a ban on the
transit o nuclear weaponsthrough nuclear-weapon-ree zones.
UnderArticle X each party may withdraw rom the NPT i it decides
that extraordinary events havejeopardized its supreme interests.
Notice o withdrawal is to be given three months in advance.
Recommendation: Only a qualifed majority o the parties should
have the right to determinewhether extraordinary events have
occurred. Notice o withdrawal should be given one year inadvance.
Otherwise, the NPT must be considered irreversible, both in time o
peace and in time owar. An international mechanism must be set up
to deal with cases o non-compliance.
Under the protocol on negative security assurances accompanying
nuclear-weapon-ree zonetreaties, each nuclear-weapon state is
committed not to use or threaten to use a nuclear explosivedevice.
This commitment was subsequently qualifed by France, the Russian
Federation, the UnitedKingdom and the United States stating that
the assurances they oered would become invalid in thecase o an
invasion or any other attack on them, their territories, their
armed orces or other troops,their allies, or on a state to which
they have a security commitment, carried out or sustained by a
non-nuclear-weapon state in association or alliance with a
nuclear-weapon state. The our great powershave thus reserved or
themselves the right to use nuclear weapons in a war started with
non-nuclearmeans o warare. Although it was conceived as a quid pro
quo or the renunciation o nuclearweapons by non-nuclear-weapon
states under the NPT, prohibition on the use o nuclear weapons
may now be treated as a potential arms control measure to be
negotiated by all states, regardless otheir association with the
NPT.
Recommendation: Employment o nuclear weapons must be defnitively
prohibited, except in caseo reprisal or a nuclear aggression. A
no-frst-use obligation would acilitate the process o nuclearweapons
elimination.
Under Article VIII the text o any proposed amendment to the NPT
must be submitted to thedepositary governments, distributed to the
parties and considered at a conerence convened at therequest o at
least one-third o the parties. To set the procedure in motion,
unanimity or consensusis not needed. To be approved, an amendment
requires a majority o votes, including those o thenuclear-weapon
parties (as defned by the treaty) and those o other parties that
are members o theIAEA Board o Governors on the day the text is
circulated. Not all the changes proposed above would
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