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 and deals with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and contains commitments on nonproliferation, safeguards, nuclear disarmament, nuclear energy and nuclear-weapons free zones. 

Its first paragraph explained the reason why the NPT was negotiated and needed: “Considering the devastation that would be visited upon all mankind by a nuclear war and the consequent need to make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples...” . The Acronym Institute has closely followed NPT developments since 1994.

The NPT is scheduled to hold its 8th Review Conference during 3-28 May in New York this year (2010).  All countries except India, Israel, and Pakistan have joined this Treaty, although in 2003 North Korea withdrew in order to develop nuclear weapons, which it demonstrated with nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. For information and analysis on the 2010 NPT Review Conference as well as Elements for an Action Plan for Nuclear Disarmament & Non-Proliferation at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, please visit the 2010 RevCon page.

Latest analysis from Rebecca Johnson

• Action Plan for Nuclear Disarmament & Non-Proliferation at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, by Rebecca Johnson, January 2010
• Laying Substantive Groundwork for 2010: Report of the 2009 NPT PrepCom, by Rebecca Johnson, Disarmament Diplomacy, No.91, Summer 2009
• Enhanced Prospects for 2010: An Analysis of the Third PrepCom and the Outlook for the 2010 NPT Review Conference, by Rebecca Johnson, published in Arms Control Today, June 2009

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

• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), full text
• States that have signed and ratified the Treaty
• Nuclear Disarmament Plan of Action, Final Document, 2000 NPT Review Conference
• Decisions of the 1995 NPT Review Conference on Strengthening the Treaty review process, Principles & Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament; NPT Extension, and the Resolution on the Middle East

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

Back to the Top of the Page

© 2010 The Acronym Institute.