International Atomic Energy Agency
Topic A: Regulation of Non Violent Nuclear Programs
Introduction
“A nonviolent nuclear program or a nuclearweapon-free zone, is a specific area, where
countries commit themselves not to test,
manufacture, acquire or possess atomic
weapons” (General Assembly, 2013). States
also pledges not to carry out nuclear
weapon tests or any other atomic explosion
and to conclude with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and enforce
a Safeguards Agreement and Additional
Protocol.
“Each treaty must include a protocol for the
five nuclear-weapon states recognized by
the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), China,
France, Russia, United Kingdom and the
United States to sign and certify” (General
Assembly, 2013). These protocols invite the
nuclear weapon states to respect and not to
threaten against treaty states. Nevertheless,
these countries have reserve the right to use
nuclear weapons in certain scenarios against
the state members of the treaty.
“The regions currently covered under
a nuclear-weapon-free zones are: Latin
America with the Treaty of Tlatelolco signed
in 1967, the South Pacific with the Treaty of
Rarotonga signed in 1985, Southeast Asia
with the Treaty of Bangkok signed in 1995,
Africa with the Treaty of Pelindaba signed
in 1996 and Central Asia with the Treaty of
Semipalatinsk signed in 2006.” (General
Assembly, 2013)
There are four main objectives of a nuclearweapon-free zone: non-possession of
nuclear weapons by zonal states, nonstationing of atomic weapons within the
zone by any state, no use or threat of use of
nuclear weapons in the zone and verification
of treaty compliance.
This nuclear-weapon-free zone are simply a
matter of common security and the common
good. It is an effective way for achieving
security on a regional basis, which in the
end, with enough weapon free zones, it can
mean the end of violent conflicts among
nations. The impact of atomic weapons
according with the International Physicians
for the Preventions of Nuclear War (IPPNW),
nuclear testing will lead to over 2 million
cancer fatalities not counting other health
effects. When an atomic bomb detonates,
the immediate disease rate will be over
90%. Only in the United States, the cost of
atomic weapon production in 1996 was of $
44 billion and the clean-up is estimated to
cost $300 billion in 2070, the production has
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polluted a massive amount of oil and water
at the nuclear facilities around the world
and the emission of substances will remain
plaguing the air for thousands of years.
1950’s
Historical Background
their own nuclear weapon on Montebello
Islands off the coast of Western Australia. This
led to the acceleration of US investigations
and in March of 1954 dropped a 17-megaton
hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific
Ocean.
1940’s
The origins of nuclear weapons go back
to the 1940’s starting with the most famous
project lead by the U.S, The Manhattan
Project, which seeked the development of
the very first nuclear weapon. However, it
was not until August of 1945 when the US
finally decided to drop two deadly bombs
over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
and by this putting an end to World War II.
This important event marked the beginning
of the nuclear age.
The 24 of February of 1946, the United
Nations demands the complete elimination
of nuclear weapons and established a new
committee in order to regulate and treat
the problematics that the discovery of the
nuclear weapons had brought to the society.
The first country to follow the steps of the
U.S. is the Soviet Union, they develop and
test successfully a nuclear artefact with the
code “First Lightning” in Kazajistán the 29 of
August of 1949.
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Right after the use of a nuclear weapon
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, several other
countries began their own investigations
about this newly found mortal weapon. For
example, on October of 1952 the UK tested
On July of 1955 the leaders of The Manhattan
Project, Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell,
issue a manifesto warning the authorities
of the dangers of nuclear belic conflict and
encourages other governments to solve
their disputes in a peaceful way.
As a side effect of this manifesto on
December of 1959 The Antarctic Treaty, the
very first NWFZ, opens for signature, the
treaty established that any nuclear explosion
in Antarctica and the disposal of radioactive
waste material shall be prohibited.
1960’s
Joining the other countries that acquired
nuclear devices, France test the first one
the 13 of February of 1960, in order to take
advantage of other countries, the Soviet
Union create the largest nuclear weapon
knew until the time. Between the 16 to 29
of February, the U.S. blocked Cuba because
they discovered nuclear devices on the
ground, this event almost leads to an atomic
war. Due to these facts the 5 of August of
1963, the international community signs a
treaty that prohibits nuclear testing in the
atmosphere, space or underwater.
Four years later, after China exploded its first
atomic bomb in 1954, Latin America became
the first NWFZ with the Treaty of Tlatelolco
signed the 14 of February of 1967, a year later,
the Nonproliferation Treaty is signed the first
of July.
1970’s
Nuclear testing continued all over the
world and India was not an exception, on
the 18th of May of 1974 India conducted
an underground nuclear test in Rajasthan
desert. Once India joined other countries
in the nuclear revolution a devastating
explosion happened on September of 1979
around the South Asian Ocean. However,
this test was not lead by India’s government
but instead by South African authorities with
Israel’s support. This explosion proved once
more how mortal nuclear weapons can
be and how peaceful resolutions are still a
better option.
1980’s
When nuclear weapons became an
important tool in several countries this finally
caught the attention of thousands of citizens
that were worried for their lives. In spite of
this on the 12th of June of 1982 a meeting was
held in New York City’s Central Park where
a million civilians gather in support of the
Second United Nations Special Session on
Disarmament. This meeting is known as the
largest anti-armed conflict demonstration in
history.
Given the constant complaints against
nuclear testing’s and developments the
South Pacific finally decides to follow the
steps of Latin America and signs on the 6th
of August of 1985 the Treaty of Rarotonga, a
treaty prohibits the manufacturing, stationing
or testing of nuclear weapons within the area.
This action made South Pacific the second
region to establish a Nuclear Weapon Free
Zone.
As an important operation during the
Cold War was the signature of the
IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces Treaty in
9187, encouraged by the Soviet Union and
the US, to eliminate all land-based missiles
held between the two states.
1990’s
The countries joining the Nonproliferation
Treaty increases with the implementation
of South Africa, international community,
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being more concerned about the risk of
atomic weapons, starts to create more
NWFZ, like Southeast Asia in 1995 with the
Treaty of Bangkok or Africa in 1996 with the
Treaty of Pelindaba, also countries declared
themselves a state free of weapons like
Ukraine and call upon other nations to follow
those steps in 1996.
Concerned by the large growth of atomic
arsenals, the International Court of Justice,
declared in 1996, that the use or threat that
involves nuclear weapons is illegal and it
would be against the International Right. The
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was
open for the signature in the United Nations
in 1996, China, United Kingdom, France,
Russia and the United States signed the
treaty, India denied to sign it.
Belarus, Ukraine and Kazajistán are the last
ex- Soviet Republics to dispose their atomic
arsenals in 1996, on the other hand, countries
like India or Pakistan started to test their own
nuclear weapons in 1998.
2000’s
Even when several regions have successfully
signed anti-belic conflict treaties some
others still believe that nuclear weapons
are the only way to solve disputes. As an
example of this North Korea did not stop
their manufacture and conducted a nuclear
test on October of 2006. This made North
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Korea the eight country to successfully
develop a nuclear bomb. Nevertheless, this
action was internationally disapproved given
the fact that 5 important regions have given
up nuclear weapons manufacture.
By April of 2007 The International Campaign
to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was put in
motion in Vienna, calling for the immediate
start of negotiations on a treaty to prohibit
and eliminate nuclear weapons. This was
a successful event that encouraged other
nations to join the treaty and establish more
NWFZ.
Current Relevance
Nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) have
and will always be an important and objective
contribution to the nuclear disarmament
regime. The establishment of the very first
NWFZ woke up huge interest in the creation
of new zones among other nations, starting
with a zone in the Arctic and then a zone in
the Middle East.
At the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the
States Parties affirmed that the 1995
Middle East Resolution was “the basis” for
the indefinite extension of the NPT. They also
endorsed several practical steps to establish
such a zone.
Although nuclear weapons have only been
used twice in international conflicts—in the
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945—it is known that about 22,000 nuclear
weapons remain in our world today and
there have been over 2,000 nuclear tests
conducted to date. Disarmament is the
best protection against such dangers, but
achieving this goal has been a tremendously
difficult challenge.
The current creation of the five existing
nuclear-weapon-free zones has shown to
the international community the importance
of pursuing peaceful uses for nuclear
technology that will benefit them all, while
also maintaining peace and security.
For example, NWFZ have provided the
regions the confidence that their enemies in
the nearby do not possess nuclear weapons
and may not be predisposed to acquire
such weapons themselves. This is a huge
advantage that nonviolent nuclear programs
bring nowadays, since it avoids unnecessary
conflicts in the future.
Even Though there’s been persistent actions
against nuclear proliferation the conflicts
are still present in different areas around
the world. For example, Iran which is one
of the most problematic nation regarding
nuclear weapons. Over the last decade, an
international accord has slowly emerged
that Iran is not only just pursuing a civilian
nuclear program but rather was seeking
nuclear weapons.
Iran has agreed a long-term deal on its
nuclear programme with six world powers,
capping 12 years of on-off negotiations and
potentially ending one of the world’s most
serious crises. Since Iran hid a clandestine
uranium enrichment programme for 18
years, in the breach of the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT). It has always been
considered as a dangerous country which
has the sources to construct a nuclear bomb.
In May 2011, the IAEA raised concern about
the “possible existence” of seven areas
of military research in the Iranian nuclear
program. In November 2011, material that the
IAEA presented pointed clearly to the fact
that Iran wanted to develop a deliverable
nuclear weapon. This discovery was of great
concern among neighboring countries of
Iran.
Iran unlike other countries such as South
Korea, Spain, Finland and Sweden chose
to establish its own uranium enrichment
infrastructure at Natanz and has kept it a
secret from the world until 2002, when it was
revealed by an Iranian opposition. A second
secret enrichment facility, near Qom, which
was buried deep inside a mountain, was
disclosed in 2009.
Iran and world powers agreed an interim
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deal in 2013 which saw it gain around $7bn in
sanctions relief in return for curbing uranium
enrichment and giving UN inspectors better
access to its facilities. World powers also
committed to facilitate Iran’s access to
$4.2bn in restricted funds.
Iran wants the UN sanctions suspended
as soon as possible once an agreement
is reached. The loss of oil revenue, which
accounted for a half of government
expenditure, had caused Iran’s currency, the
rail, to lose two-thirds of its value against the
US dollar and caused inflation to rise to more
than 40%, with prices of basic foodstuffs and
fuel soaring. Many Iranians therefore see the
lifting of the sanctions as an essential first
step in improving the economy.
International Actions
Over the past 35 years the International
Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) security
system under the Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty (NPT) has been a visible international
success. It has involved cooperation in
developing nuclear energy while assuring
that civil uranium, plutonium and related
plants are used only for peaceful purposes
and do not contribute in any way to
proliferation of nuclear weapons programs.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is an
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international agreement aimed at preventing
the spread of nuclear weapons and
promoting cooperation in the commercial
uses of nuclear energy and disarmament.
Nowadays 190 states are members of the
NPT. These include all five declared Nuclear
Weapons States (NWS) which are: China,
France, the Russian Federation, the UK and
the USA. These five countries guaranteed
not to transfer nuclear weapons technology
to other states and to reduce their weapons
stockpiles. The main countries remaining
outside the NPT are Israel, India and Pakistan,
and now North Korea has moved to join
them.
Besides the NPT there’s also been important
and influential international programs that
seek the denuclearization around the world.
An example of this is the International
Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
(ICAN) which is a global campaign affiliation
working to inspire and persuade people to
demand governments for the initiation of
treaties that ban nuclear weapons.
Other programs include Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) which establishes guidelines for
international nuclear trade. In 2011, the NSG
voted to approve guidelines that set clear
and specific criteria for the transportation
of equipment and technology used in
uranium enrichment and used nuclear fuel
reprocessing.
Another cooperation into the international
denuclearization has been the creation
of Nuclear Fuel Supply Banks which are
strictly monitored banks that are designed
to persuade other nations to refrain
development of uranium enrichment or
reprocessing technology, which could be
used to make weapons-grade material.
The IAEA Board has approved the creation
of two separate fuel banks. The first was
established in March of 2010 between
the IAEA and the Russian government.
The second fuel bank was approved in
December of 2010 and will be owned and
operated by the IAEA.
Other efforts in the concretization about
the danger of violent nuclear programs has
been the establishment of an international
day against nuclear test which was settled
to be commemorated every 29th of August.
This was created on the 2nd of December of
2009 in the 64th session of the United Nations
General Assembly. The purpose of the day
is to increase awareness and education
about the effects of nuclear weapon tests or
any other nuclear explosions and the need
for their termination as one of goals for a
nuclear-weaponfree world.
UN Actions
Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous
weapons on earth. One can destroy an
entire city, possibly killing millions, and
putting in danger the natural environment
and lives of future generations through its
long-term negative effects.
The United Nations has sought to eliminate
such weapons ever since they were born
back in the World War II. The very first
resolution for this worldwide problem was
adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1946,
this established a brand new Commission to
deal with problems related to the discovery
of atomic energy among others. This so
said Commission should make proposals for
“the elimination from national armaments
of atomic weapons and of all other major
weapons adaptable to mass destruction.”
A big number of treaties have been
established since then with the objective
of preventing nuclear proliferation and
testing. These include the Treaty on the
Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),
the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests
In The Atmosphere, In Outer Space And
Underwater, also known as the Partial Test
Ban Treaty (PTBT), and the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was
signed in 1996 but has yet to enter into force.
However, they also exist bilateral and
plurilateral treaties that aim to eliminate
specific categories of nuclear weapons and
to prevent the proliferation of such weapons.
These go from treaties between the United
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States of America and Russian Federation
as well as various other nations. Some
examples of this arrangements are: Nuclear
Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology
Control Regime, the Hague Code of Conduct
against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, and the
Wassenaar Arrangement.
National Actions
Latin America
Six months after the Cuban Missile Crisis,
five Latin American states—Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Ecuador and Mexico—called for an
agreement to denuclearize Latin America,
following an earlier suggestion from Costa
Rica in 1959.
The UN General Assembly approved a
resolution on denuclearization of Latin
America submitted by 11 Latin American
states on 27 November 1963. After four years
of negotiations to work out the details, the
Treaty of Tlatelolco was opened for signature
on 14 February 1967.
Similar to the Rapacki Plan, the program
includes: prohibiting of nuclear weapons,
whether developed or acquired; an
inspection and verification system; and
undertakings by NWSs not to use or threaten
to use nuclear weapons against states in
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the zone. The ban on nuclear weapons was
particularly relevant given both tactical and
intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba
before and during the Missile Crisis by the
USSR.
The South Pacific
During the late 1960s and early 1970s
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam suffered
of major conflicts and so the potential
for conventional was to turn into nuclear
exchanges was an international concern and
this generated huge interest in a regional
denuclearization.
The successful negotiation of the Treaty
of Tlatelolco in Latin America served of
inspiration to states in South Pacific. Making
Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea
look for support in the United Nations for a
South Pacific NWFZ in 1975.
South Pacific Nuclear-Free Zone was
established by the Treaty of Rarotonga and
adopted by the South Pacific Forum on the
6th of August 1985 but it actually came into
force on December of 1986. It consisted of
13 full members including Australia, Cook
Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand,
Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The treaty defines the zone as nuclear free
instead of nuclear weapon free as it prohibits
dumping of radioactive waste and other
radioactive materials in the area.
Southeast Asia
The Treaty of Bangkok emerge from the
earlier 1971 Zone of Peace, Freedom and
Neutrality in South-East Asia, which was an
initiative of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN). This was in response
of the concern about NWS military bases
and nuclear weapon motion by plane and
sea.
After a decade of negotiating and drafting
efforts by the ASEAN Working Group the
SEANWFZ Treaty was signed by the heads of
states of all 10 regional states in Bangkok on
15 December 1995.
Bangkok Treaty, is a nuclear weapons
moratorium treaty between Brunei, Bruma,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
It is a treaty with the same key of
denuclearization features as the Treaty of
Rarotonga and the Treaty of Tlatelolco—
but went further by extending the zone’s
provisions to cover the exclusive economic
zones of states parties to the treaty.
Africa
The recognition of African states about
the risk of nuclear weapons to their peace
and security was made evident in their
opposition to Charles DeGaulle’s effort to
use the Sahara as a testing ground for French
nuclear devices during the late 1950s and
early 1960s. Later, more concerns began to
arise about South Africa’s nuclear intentions
and programmes.
South Africa began with a nuclear energy
development programme in 1948, and by
1970 they had an important enrichment in
uranium, this continued in 1977 with a huge
weapons development and finally by the
early 1990s Africa had a stockpile of six
nuclear weapons.
It was not until 1964 that the African Union
(AU) promulgated a Declaration on the
Denuclearization of Africa. In 1990 the UN
General Assembly approved the treaty and
called for a meeting of experts in order
to prepare and implement the treaty on
the denuclearization of Africa. The African
Nuclear weapon free Zone Treaty (Treaty of
Pelindaba) opened for signature on 11th April
1996 and then entered into force the 15th of
July 2009.
The Treaty of Pelindaba is pretty similar to
both the Treaty of Rarotonga and the Treaty
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of Tlatelolco. However, it also contains
special provisions for the dismantling of
existing nuclear-weapon-related facilities. It
was also the first zone in which the United
Nations had played a direct role in the
successful creation of a NWFZ,
states and the stationing of nuclear weapons.
However, it goes further by prohibiting the
research on nuclear weapons, and clearly
including way more intrusive IAEA additional
protocol safeguards.
Middle East
Central Asia
From beginning to end of the Cold War,
Central Asia had been the epicenter of the
Soviet nuclear testing program. The region
was utilized extensively by the USSR for
nuclear testing, missile testing, processing
of nuclear fuels, stockpiling of strategic and
tactical nuclear weapons, uranium mining
and plutonium stockpiling.
The initial proposal for the NWFZ was
advanced by Uzbek President Islam Karimov
at the 1993 General Assembly, following an
early 1992 suggestion from Mongolia that
such a zone be created. Thanks to this by
1997 the five Central Asian presidents issued
the Almaty Declaration, which called for the
creation of an NWFZ.
The Treaty of Semipalatinsk was signed on
8th September 2006 at Semipalatinsk, the
past Soviet nuclear test site in Kazakhstan.
The zone includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Treaty bans the development or
acquisition of nuclear weapons by regional
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The idea of a nuclear-weapon-free zone
(NWFZ) in the Middle East was first born in
1962, when a committee of Israeli thinkers—
the Committee for the Denuclearization of
the Middle East—Stated that they considered
the development of nuclear weapons “to
constitute a danger to Israel and to peace
in the Middle East” and therefore asked
the United Nations to intervene in order
to seek a viable resolution for the nuclear
development problematic.
This idea has been present for around 35
years and during this period all states in
the region have expressed support for
a multilateral regional nonproliferation
framework. Countries like Egypt back in 1990
expressed the need for a zone free of all
weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and
was quickly supported by other countries.
However, it was not until November of 2011
when an official forum on Nuclear Weapon
Free Zone in the Middle East was open
in Vienna with the objective of formally
discussing the opening of a new NWFZ. The
representatives of IAEA member states have
now learned, compared and discussed the
high maintained of the to date five NWFZ
and the now viable possibility that these
might be implemented in a new region; the
Middle East.
This conference held in 2011 by itself
represents a huge step forward towards the
improvement of regional and international
peace and security. However little progress
has recently been made despite of the
various conferences and discussions about
the new NWFZ.
So much works remains to be done for the
establishment of this future zone, including
the conquer of differences in opinions
among regional parties, investigations
referent to the application of the zone and
its basic obligations on member’s states.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that
the future creation of a Nuclear Weapon
Free Zone in the Middle East supposes an
impossible goal.
Bullet Points to be Tackled
· Campaigns to help the population be aware
of the current situation.
· Modification of or creation of a plan that
involves a non-violent nuclear program in
each country
· International management of the situation
in a global aspect and perspective
· Reasons from each country for having a
non-violent regulation in nuclear programs
·
Effective measures in the established
agreements
· Internal and external policies to reduce the
use of nuclear weapons
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