The NPT
(Non-Proliferation Treaty)
by Omar Alatorre(M)
The NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) was implemented on March 5, 1970. Basically, what it states is the following (and this is a very general overview):
The countries that composed the Allies in World War II were Nuclear Weapons States (China, USA, France, UK, and Russia). The rest of the countries would become Non-Nuclear Weapon States. It was agreed that all the nations of the world would be entitled to benefit from nuclear energy. They would be assisted by the IAEA's inspectors so as to keep nations:
a) from developing nuclear weaponry.
b) safe from accidents.
No NNWS can make nuclear weapons. NNWS agreed to this.
The NWS agreed to work in the department of Disarmament overtime and assist other nations so as to enhance their nuclear energy programs.
North Korea and Iran
There has been constant conflict between the international community and North Korea and Iran when it comes to inspecting their regimes.
NORTH KOREA:
On April 24, 2003, North Korean officials said for the first time that North Korea possessed nuclear arsenal. The statement shocked the world. Another country would be added to the list of countries that possessed such type of weaponry.
The countries that possess nuclear weapons are the United States of America, Russia (also known as the Soviet Union), France, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China. It is known that after the NPT was signed, two countries who had refrained from signing the NPT have since been conducting nuclear tests. Such countries are Pakistan and India.
However, North Korea signed the NPT and later withdrew from it. The status of North Korea's nuclear weapons program is still unknown. This action put global security at risk and caused the international community to doubt upon the trustworthiness of North Korea's word. After much negotiating with other countries and having come to various agreements to benefit the DPRK, the North decided not to keep its end of the bargain and continue with its nuclear weapons program. To this date, North Koreans weapons program is said to continue working, and yet, the international community has not been able to properly negotiate or come to an agreement with the North.
IRAN:
Any country that possesses a nuclear reactor can, in theory, create nuclear weapons. It is suspected that Iran could have (now or in a near future) a nuclear weapons program. It is known that the country's nuclear program goes back a few decades, but just until recently Iran is finding its program accused of being capable of creating nuclear weapons.
Iran claims that it has no intentions to create a nuclear weapons program and claims that they are entitled to create nuclear energy (a very valid thing to argue). Regardless of this, it has acted in a rather strange way to the accusations. At first, it kicked the IAEA's inspectors off Iranian soil. This action went against the points agreed on the NPT. After this, the country seemed to be cooperative, and, very diplomatically, came back into the NPT, receiving good comments from the IAEA's director general, Mohammed El Baradei. Iranian officials later kicked the inspectors out of the country (again) and ignored the international community's demand to drop its nuclear energy program for 2 years, claiming (as they had before) that they had every right to make nuclear energy. The country has been threatened to be brought forth to the Security Council of the U.N.
NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY
By: Alison Barry (U)
Nuclear weapons have been a problem in the past. Countries have created huge stock piles in defense. But nuclear weaponry is VERY dangerous. So, as a way to stop the production of more of these deadly weapons, many countries have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty has a total of 185 countries’ signatures currently. The treaty has 11 different articles of well thought out information, guidelines, and rules. If you would like to read about the treaty go to http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/npt/text/index.html. This site has a list of the countries, and the entire treaty.
Bibliography
Omar F. Alatorre C.(M) : Participant at various United Nations Simulations in Mexico and the U.S. Has dealt with nuclear energy as a topic on many of them. The information above is our own inferring.
During the time the research was done, these two sites were of great help.
http://www.thebulletin.org/index.htm
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/
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