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RANSAC Nuclear News, May 1, 2003 Compiled By: Lauren Arestie A. Multilateral Threat Reduction
 A. Multilateral Threat Reduction 1. Deputy Minister Gives Overview Of Russian-Norway Nuclear And Radiation Safety Cooperation Deputy Minister of RF of Atomic Energy S. Antipov was appointed by Chairman of the RF Government Mikhail Kasianov the Co-Chair of Russia-Norway Cooperation Commission. The Commission was created on August 13, 1998 with the Russian part led by former Deputy Minister V. Lebedev who is now replaced by Mr. Antipov, who commented on request of the Nuclear.Ru on progress of the cooperation. According to Antipov, the Russia-Norway cooperation in nuclear and radiation safety is backed-up by the bilateral agreement and pursues a number of ongoing contracts dealing with rehabilitation of the site in Adreeva Bay where irradiated fuel from retired nuclear submarines is stored along with INF and radwaste generated during years of n-subs operation. The activities will be pursued to include continuation of ongoing projects as well as replacement of independent radioisotope-based power sources, which supply electricity to lighthouses and other means of navigation with diverse power sources (sun, wind). Mr. Antipov also noted that recently the Norwegian side had sent a note through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposing to conclude a contract and finance decommissioning of two multi-purpose nuclear submarines in the Northern region of Russia. "Now we are preparing official papers demonstrating positive answer of the Russian side and negotiating the contract," Antipov said noting that Norway also participates in the trilateral military-and-environmental cooperation (AMEC) which involves the US. "We have done a number of works under this cooperation to include development of liquid and solid radwaste reprocessing facilities, manufacturing a series of containers and building of temporary storage sites for containers with irradiated nuclear fuel." He explained that this is a rather extensive program and it would be continued. In addition, Norway plays the leading role among the western partners to work out the multilateral agreement on nuclear and environmental cooperative program in the North West of Russia. "Conclusion of this agreement will allow for expanding and fostering cooperation in this area", stressed Antipov. Return to Menu 2. Russian and Italian Foreign Ministers To Debate Bilateral Contacts MOSCOW - Igor Ivanov, Russia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, will visit Italy, May 6-7, reports Alexander Yakovenko, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman. Mr. Ivanov will meet at the negotiation table with Franco Frattini, his counterpart of the host country, on an agenda dominated by bilateral partnership - in particular, efforts to implement a G8 understanding for global partnership against mass destruction weapons and materials proliferation. The ministers will also discuss the ways to closer Russia-EU contacts. Italian contribution to St. Petersburg tricentennial will also come up for negotiations. In that context, Mr. Yakovenko highlighted a program, Italy to St. Petersburg. Timed to the jubilee galas, it reflects long-established Russian-Italian contacts, said the diplomat. The Foreign Ministers intend to analyze developments around Iraq, Middle Eastern settlement problems, and the Korean and Balkan situations. Italy is one of Russia's closest European partners, and all-round partnership with it spectacularly promotes long-term Russian interests, pointed out Mr. Yakovenko. Return to Menu B. Nuclear Nonproliferation 1. Moscow Stresses Necessity To Prevent Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons MOSCOW - Moscow stresses the necessity to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons, the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Nuclear weapons non-proliferation issue was the key one at the second session of the Preparatory Committee opened the day before in Geneva for the Conference considering implementation of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that will take place in 2005. At the session the Russian delegation put the emphasis on the necessity to strengthen the NPT as a "cornerstone disarmament document", as well as on its universalization, "without any damage inflicted on the international co-operation in the sphere of peaceful nuclear energy." The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Moscow "is standing for preservation and strengthening of non-proliferation regimes providing both global and regional stability and security." "We are sure that we can resist new challenges only through joint efforts of the international community in this field," the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said. According to the Russian party, "at present, proliferation of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles would cause strategic chaos with a higher risk of regional conflicts with the use of nuclear weapons. We must firmly resist such a course of events," Moscow believes. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, NPT is "the major restrictive factor. It also provides for the development of international co-operation in the sphere of peaceful nuclear energy." That is why Russia believes it extremely important to conduct a multilateral unbiased consideration of the implementation of the NPT. According to Moscow, the main objective of the Committee is to prepare another consideration of the implementation of every provision of the Treaty in 2005. The Russian party believes that there is a certain basis for it. It is the Final document adopted in 2000. "It has a list of multilateral, regional and other measures. In fact, it is a program for joint efforts aimed at increasing NPT efficiency," the Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out. Return to Menu C. Strategic Arms Reduction 1. Russian, US Experts Discuss Implementation Of SOR Treaty MOSCOW - Another one of the series of meetings of the US-Russian Working Group for strategic offensive potentials has just terminated in Geneva. According to the information released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the participants discussed all the practical issues, related to the preparation for the implementation of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty, signed by the two nations' presidents in Moscow last May. In particular, experts considered the procedure for the arms reduction that is to follow the treaty's coming into force, and guarantees of both sides' abiding by their obligations under the treaty. The date of the next Working Group session is to be arranged through diplomatic channels. Return to Menu 2. United States, Russia Exchange Submarine Inspections The United States and Russia recently inspected some of each other's submarine-launched ballistic missiles, according to ITAR-Tass. The inspections were conducted to check compliance with START, the 1991 strategic arms treaty that restricts each side to deploying no more than 6,000 strategic nuclear warheads. In Russia, U.S. experts inspected Typhoon submarines at Nerpichya Bay, northeast of the Kola Peninsula on April 24-27. The found no violations, according to ITAR-Tass. In the United States, Russian specialists recently visited the U.S. submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga. In a four-day visit, they found no treaty violations, ITAR-Tass reported. Both the United States and Russia reduced their strategic weapons to below treaty limits by the treaty deadline in 2001, and Russia has slowly continued to make reductions. In a treaty-mandated information exchange made public this month, Russia declared that in January it was deploying missiles and bombers capable of carrying 5,436 nuclear warheads, as counted under somewhat complicated treaty rules. That figure is less than the 5,483 warheads Russia declared in July 2002 and the 5,518 it declared in January 2002, reflecting attrition to Russian missile forces. Treaty rules require the parties to exchange information on their strategic holdings every six months and the United States releases the information about three months later. As for its forces, the United States declared it had 5,974 treaty-accountable nuclear warheads as of January. In July 2002, the United States declared 5, 927 and in January 2002 it declared 5,948 warheads. The recent increase of 47 warheads reflects the completion of another submarine conversion in a program to replace Trident 1 missiles, on which the United States loads as many as six warheads, with Trident 2 missiles, which are armed with as many as eight warheads. Each U.S. ballistic missile submarine can carry 24 missiles, so each conversion allows the upgraded boats to carry 48 more warheads, or a total of 192. The recent U.S. data also reflects the loss of B-1 bomber to a crash in the Indian Ocean. The B-1 bomber no longer has a nuclear role in the U.S. Air Force, but it remains accountable under the treaty. Return to Menu D. Russia-U.S. 1. US, Russia Must Remain Allies, Congressman Says WASHINGTON - Despite opposition by Russian President Vladimir Putin to almost everything the United States proposes on Iraq, America nevertheless should continue to pursue a close relationship with Russia, a conservative lawmaker said. There's too much at stake for both countries not to do everything they can to mend ties, which have been strained for years on a number of issues, said Rep. Curt Weldon (R.-Pa.). "The bottom line is: Russia is going to be our long-term partner and friend, and we need to reassure the Russian people that we're not going to steer away from that direction," Weldon told CNSNews.com. Russia also must have a role to play in energy development and the rebuilding of the Iraqi post-war economy and society, Weldon said. "I think, in the end, it will all be resolved and, in fact, Russia and America will be cooperative partners in Iraq," he said. After first angering the Bush administration by siding with France and Germany in refusing to support military action against Saddam Hussein, the Russian president this week further outraged the allies by saying he opposes lifting sanctions against Iraq. The United States also is deeply concerned about allegations, which have not been proven, that the Russians cooperated with Iraqi intelligence during the war, Weldon said. But analysts attending the World Russian Forum in Washington on Tuesday said Russia's opposition to the United States stems from a variety of issues, some of which remain unresolved. Weldon cited the U.S. withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2001, the expansion of NATO and ignoring Russia during the Kosovo conflict as contributing factors to the deterioration of relations in recent years. "We didn't do a good job of helping Russia understand why NATO expansion would eventually be in Russia's long-term security interest," Weldon said in a keynote speech before the forum, sponsored by the Washington-based Russia House. Moreover, the United States did not deliver the one thing Putin asked for and President Bush said he would give: the permanent exemption of Russia from the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Act. Despite widespread support on the Hill, efforts to exempt Russia from Jackson-Vanik stalled in the Senate over the issue of U.S. poultry exports, Weldon said. Russia banned U.S. poultry products, citing health concerns related to salmonella and the antibiotics used by U.S. chicken farmers. The Bush administration and Congress have enacted a waiver to grant Russia normal trade status on a year-by-year basis since 1994. However, a repeal of Jackson-Vanik, a bill that levies trade tariffs on countries that limit the emigration of their citizens, is seen as the next critical step in Russia's World Trade Organization acceptance process. "So what did we give Putin? We didn't give him very much. Yes, George Bush reached out to him personally, and that's an important symbol, but what about the perception of the people in Russia?" Weldon asked. "In my opinion, they weren't seeing very much in the way of positive activity." Weldon also saw room for cooperation between the United States and Russia on the issue of accounting for and securing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Iraq's and Iran's WMD capability came from a destabilized Russia, which officially claims to have 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons, including 60 strains of anthrax, smallpox, botulism, Ebola, sarin and other types of material produced by the Soviets. "It's absolutely imperative that we pro-actively work with Russia to secure and eradicate their weapons of mass destruction," Weldon said. The Pennsylvania Republican recently introduced legislation calling for an additional $330 million of spending for the Defense Department and Department of Energy to accelerate upgrades of nuclear storage facilities in Russia and to bolster security at nuclear reactors and other sites that could be targeted by terrorists. In return, Weldon asked the Russians to open all the sites in Russia that have been off-limits to America for the past 10 years. "I don't want any more excuses as to why we can't visit a particular site. If we're going to put this kind of a commitment in - $300 million on top of $1.3 billion that we're spending next year - then we want to see total transparency," Weldon said. For its part, the Russian leadership is working with the United States to help resolve the North Korea crisis, including supporting a delegation to North Korea at the end of May. A Russian energy cooperative is planning a Russia-Korea pipeline that will run from the Russian Far East through North Korea into South Korea, funded jointly by Russian energy companies and South Korea, Weldon said. Return to Menu 2. Former Ambassador Highlights Growing Roles Of China, Russia Iraq grabs all the headlines these days, but China and Russia will command more attention in the coming years, a longtime U.S. diplomat said yesterday. Thomas Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the Cleveland Council on World Affairs that Americans need to get beyond viewing China as threatening and Russia as mysterious. "Over the next decade or two, these two large and important countries will play a large role in world affairs," Pickering said, speaking to 65 people at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center. Pickering, 71, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria and Jordan, spoke as part of the council's lecture series on globalization. The career diplomat, now a senior vice president at Boeing, said relations with China could benefit the United States. China, for instance, recently organized arms talks between the U.S. and North Korea in Beijing. China also has experienced strong economic growth, making it attractive to foreign investors, Pickering said. The country also has undergone an evolution in leadership as a new generation moves into power. Pickering said the United States already has benefited from improved relations with Russia. Russia immediately pledged to help the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks, a response which Pickering called "significant." He noted that Russia also accepted the enlargement of NATO. Concerns remain, however, about Russia's dealings with Iran and Iraq and its commitment to curbing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, he said. Pickering credited Russian President Vladimir Putin with bringing his country closer to the United States. "He seems not only to understand our needs, but works well with our president," he said. Return to Menu E. Nuclear Waste Disposal 1. Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry Asks For Help Cleaning Up Landslide BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry issued an appeal Tuesday for international assistance in dealing with the aftermath of a landslide that killed 38 people and in preventing similar disasters that could spread pollution from radioactive dumps. The April 20 landslide that killed 38 people in the village of Kara-Taryk is not near any radioactive waste sites, but Kyrgyzstan has several uranium dumps inherited from the Soviet Union located in landslide-prone areas. "A sharp activation of landslides, floods, and erosion processes in the region close to waste sites and a lack of resources for rehabilitation work have created a situation in which several waste sites could threaten the environmental security not only of Kyrgyzstan but of the whole Central Asian region because of natural disasters," the ministry said in a statement. Other countries in former Soviet Central Asia rely heavily on water that originates in Kyrgyzstan for agriculture and power generation. The ministry also said the government lacks medicine, fuel, food, construction materials, and human resources to solve the problems in Kara-Taryk that remain as a result of the landslide. The U.S. Embassy in Bishkek announced Tuesday that the U.S. Agency for International Development would give US$50,000 to nongovernmental organizations already working in the region to provide necessary supplies to people affected by the landslide. Return to Menu 2. Kyrghyzstan Needs Help In Preventing Landslides BISHKEK - Kyrghyzstan's foreign ministry addressed, Tuesday, foreign governments and international governmental and non-governmental foundations and organizations, the United Nations among them, asking for prompt aid in re-cultivating uranium tailings dumps endangered by landslides, and in resettling residents of nearby settlements. There are increasingly more landslides and mudflows in the areas adjacent to the burial sites of former uranium mining wastes. Lacking funds for repair and maintenance, the republic will not be able to avert an environmental catastrophe of a trans-border scale threatening both Kyrghyzstan and entire Central Asia, say the republican authorities. The situation is hazardous in a number of districts of Kyrghyzstan's Osh region. Gigantic landslides are threatening local settlements. Several hundred families have to be evacuated immediately. The republican government is taking measures. However, there are not enough medications, fuel and lubricants, food, building material, money and manpower to tackle such a problem. 1.5 million cubic meters of earth almost completely buried the Kyrghyz village of Kara Taryk, killing 38 persons, including 18 children, in mid April. Experts warn that the gigantic Tektonik-1 landslide, the mass of which is close on 3 million cubic meters, has become active and is steadily approaching the uranium waste dump near the town of Mailuu Suu. Return to Menu F. Nuclear Submarine Dismantlement 1. Navy Shipyard Zvezdochka And US Department Signed Contract On Nuclear Submarines' Decommissioning The Russian navy shipyard Zvezdochka in Severodvinsk, Archangelsk region, and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at the US Defence Department signed a contract on developing infrastructure for the Russian nuclear submarines dismantling. Press- secretary of the shipyard, Nadezhda Scherbinina, informed about this April 1. She said that the USA will fund construction of the special site for temporary spent nuclear fuel storage at the Zvezdochka shipyard, which has already received over $60m from the USA. This money covered the infrastructure for the submarines decommissioning and radwaste storage, five nuclear submarines were decommissioned. 58 nuclear submarines wait for scrapping in the north of Russia. Return to Menu G. Nuclear Industry 1. Arkhangelsk Factory Produces First Nuclear Fuel Container ARKHANGELSK - The first container of processed nuclear fuel has been prepared at the Sevmashpredpriyatie. The order is financed by the US Defense Department as part of the joint Russian-US program 'Reducing the nuclear threat.' A special commission accepted the first container after testing. Head of Guild No. 55 Yuri Nekrasov told Rosbalt that the factory has to complete 24 containers by the end of the year, and currently they are working on eight.' Head of Marketing Arkady Artamonov said that at the present time at Sevmashpredpriyatii the production of multiple containers has been established, and only top-ranking welders work at the site for the containers' preparation. The nuclear energy company received a special license for the production of the containers. The containers for processed nuclear fuel are earmarked for use by atomic submarines. Some of the containers will be sent to the Far East, and some to the Zvyozdochka company, which is engaged in the utilization of submarines. The containers are estimated to last 50 years. A special wagon was also created for their transport along the railroad. There is a great need for the containers in Russia as more than 100 submarines will utilize the processed fuel. American specialists inspect the production every two months. The next inspection by a US delegation will take place at the factory on May 12. Return to Menu 2. Putin, Kocharian Discuss Metsamor's Fate At Ex-Soviet Summit The presidents of Russia and Armenia discussed on Sunday the vital supplies of Russian fuel to the debt-ridden nuclear power station at Metsamor which the Armenian government hopes will resume power generation this summer. The Russian Itar-Tass news agency said Russian-Armenian "interaction in atomic energy" was the main focus of a meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Robert Kocharian held on the sidelines of a summit of six former states in Tajikistan. No details were reported. Metsamor's only functioning reactor, which provides about 40 percent of Armenia's electricity, was halted on April 4 and cannot be reactivated without full refueling. The two governments have been negotiating on an agreement that would allow the plant to secure fresh nuclear fuel and repay its $32 million debt to the Russians. Under a tentative deal agreed by them last month, Russia's RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES) utility will raise the required $40 million sum in exchange for taking over Metsamor's financial management and gaining the ownership of six Armenian hydro-electric stations. But the talks seem to be dragging on with no date yet set for the signing of the agreement. Prime Minister Andranik Markarian said a group of Russian government and nuclear energy officials will arrive in Yerevan on Tuesday to "continue the process." "We are currently sticking to our timetable [for Metsamor's reactivation] as evidenced by the ongoing maintenance work at the nuclear plant," Markarian told reporters. He would not be drawn on when Russian fuel could reach Armenia though. Markarian also announced that the controversial "equities-for-debt" agreement settling the Armenian government's separate $100 million debt to Moscow will be ratified by the Russian parliament and come into effect "by the middle of May." The Russian State Duma was due to vote on the agreement this month. Markarian blamed the delay on "technical reasons," denying press reports that the Russians have postponed its ratification until after the Armenian parliamentary elections. In the Tajik capital Dushanbe, meanwhile, Armenia was granted observer status in the Eurasian Economic Community, a Russia-dominated and largely ineffectual grouping set up in 2000 to restore lost trade ties after the Soviet collapse. Last year observer status was given to two other former Soviet republics, Ukraine and Moldova. Apart from Russia, the grouping includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The five nations as well as Armenia also make up make up the Collective Security Treaty Organization (DKB), which announced on Monday the creation of a joint military command to oversee a rapid reaction force. Their presidents also signed other documents aimed at turning the alliance into a fully-fledged international organization with mechanisms of military response to security threats, reports from Dushanbe said. Putin, in particular, was quoted as promising greater military assistance to Armenia and the other DKB members. He said they will be able to buy Russian arms and military equipment at the same prices they are sold to the Russian military. Return to Menu H. Chemical Weapons Destruction 1. Russia Boasts State-Of-The Art Chemical Arms Destruction Factory GORNY, Russia - To ward off accidents and terrorist attacks, the Gorny factory, which had just seen the destruction of one percent of all chemical weapons in Russia, is practically automatic and sealed tighter than a clam. The "site number 1282", the official codename for the Gorny facility, is right next to a village of the same name in the brown, windswept steppe some 190 kilometers (120 miles) north-east of Saratov on the Volga. Open since December, it still sports freshly painted buildings and silvery tubes as well as armed patrols and guard dogs -- not to mention impressive safeguards complete with mounds of barbed wire, various electronic devices, watchtowers and two gunmen at the door. "No pictures or video filming," a security officer says coldly before granting admission to the site, the only factory in Russia working full-time on destroying chemical weapons, where any visitor must come equipped with a gas mask on a sling. The enterprise's nerve center is a tiny, immaculately clean room where a dozen technicians, eyes riveted on their computers, keep a silent watch on the proceedings, occasionally piping up with a dry instruction or two. Two rows of numerous television screens show the factory's important sites, none of which betray any human presence save at one post, where two white-robed, gas-masked technicians exchange small gestures. "They are watching over the last charge, whose elimination is almost done," explains laconically Alexander Pavlov, the shift chief. In this case, the substance on its way to destruction is 760 kilograms (1,680 pounds) of yperite, the "mustard gas" whose invention dates all the way back to the First World War. The tubes containing the poison gas are covered by a special paint whose color changes to detect leaks, and equipped to maintain a constant temperature. As humans are the weakest link in this chain of destruction, the human role is reduced to the barest minimum, the operation automated wherever possible. Nevertheless, the intensity of the task allows only four-hour shifts for those working in the destruction room. The operators never come into contact with poisonous materials, which is just as well as their costumes would allow them only 15 minutes of protection in case of accident. The poison is destroyed by slow heating of some 100 degrees Celsius, leaving it only a puddle of toxic chemical soup that would be no longer lethal. Gorny is strategically placed next to one of Russia's seven storages for chemical weapons, "to avoid transporting toxic substances" and drawing terrorist attention, the factory's operations manager Alexander Smetanin said. Gorny holds only 2.9 percent of Russia's chemical stock, stored in long gray hangars next to the factory. No access is allowed to the khaki-painted barrels that originally contained 1,160 tons of yperite and lewisite, due to be eliminated by 2005. Zhenya, a pretty 24-year-old woman, said she was "proud to work in Gorny," where her administrative post earned her "a good salary of 6,500 rubles)." She voiced her pleasure with her brand-new lodgings, complete with a school and a hospital for hundreds of employees who flocked to this village of some 8,000 inhabitants. The region's governor came last weekend to congratulate the factory's team with the completion of the first stage, noting that "it is obviously far more dangerous to keep chemical arms than to destroy them." Return to Menu 2. Switzerland Is Satisfied With The Development Of Swiss-Russian Economic Relations MOSCOW - At an Internet conference Wednesday, Walter Fetscherin, Switzerland's ambassador to Moscow, said that Switzerland positively assessed the development of economic relations with Russia. In his words, annual trade between the two countries increases by 10 percent on average. Last year, Russian exports to Switzerland were assessed at 1.2 billion dollars, and Swiss exports to Russia - at 0.6 billion dollars. Switzerland "is short of resources", therefore they occupy a major place in the structure of Swiss imports from Russia. Switzerland exports machinery and equipment, chemicals and consumer goods (primarily watches) to Russia, the ambassador said. He mentioned "good bilateral projects", such as the project for the destruction of Russian chemical weapons for which Switzerland earmarked 40 million Swiss francs, as well as projects in the sphere of high technologies. In the diplomat's words, Swiss investors are "slightly conservative" in their attitude towards Russia, however their interest in Russia has increased of late. Last year, direct Swiss investments into Russia amounted to one billion dollars," the ambassador said in conclusion. Return to Menu 3. Germany Allocates 30 Million Euros To Russia To Destroy Chemical Arsenals NIZHNI NOVGOROD - Germany will allocate to Russia 29.7 million euros within the year to destroy chemical arsenals, say notes of a respective program. Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Russia's state commission for chemical disarmament, and presidential envoy plenipotentiary to the Volga federal district, and Peter Schmidt, Germany's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, exchanged the documents in The Hague today, reports Mr. Kiriyenko's press service. 23.5 million euros of the forthcoming sum will finance construction of a chemical arms destruction factory in Kambarka, Udmurtia, and 6.2 million will go on the commissioning of a second stage of a similar factory in Gorny, add our informants. Return to Menu I. Announcements 1. On SOR Working Group Meeting A regular meeting of the Russian-American Working Group on Strategic Offensive Reductions has concluded in Geneva. This forum is the working body of the Consultative Group for Strategic Security led by the Foreign and Defense Ministers of the two countries, set up by the Russian and US Presidents in the course of the Moscow Summit last May. The Russian and American experts considered at the meeting a number of practical questions of preparations for the implementation of the SOR Treaty after its entry into force, including those relating to the procedure for carrying out arms reductions and ensuring confidence in the fulfillment by the parties of the obligations assumed. Other SOR-related matters were also examined, and the theme of non-strategic nuclear weapons was touched upon, likewise. The specific date for the next meeting of the Working Group will be arranged via diplomatic channels. The parties agreed, as before, to actively use diplomatic channels for the exchange of thoughts on the issues being discussed. Return to Menu 2. On Work of Session of Preparatory Committee for 2005 Review Conference of Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) opened in Geneva on April 28. Russia has consistently supported the preservation and strengthening of the international nonproliferation regimes ensuring global and regional stability and security. We are convinced that to counter the new challenges of today is possible only on the lines of consolidation of the efforts of the international community in this field. In the present day conditions, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their missile delivery means would be fraught with the origination of a strategic chaos and with the growth of a risk of regional conflicts with the employment of nuclear weapons. Such a scenario needs to be resolutely opposed. The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons is the main containing factor of such a course of events, while at the same time ensuring the development of international cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. That is why Russia attaches great significance to a comprehensive and objective review of the operation of the NPT. The statement by the Russian delegation at this forum accentuated attention to the necessity of strengthening the NPT - this cornerstone disarmament document - and universalizing it, of course, without detriment to international cooperation in the domain of the peaceful atom. We presume that the chief aim of the Committee is to prepare a regular review in 2005 of the operation of the Treaty across the totality of its provisions. The base for this is there - the Final Document, approved in 2000. The list of measures contained in it at the multilateral, regional and other level is, in essence, a program of joint efforts for the further enhancement of the effectiveness of the NPT. Return to Menu 3. On Work of Review Conference of States Parties to Chemical Weapons Convention A Review Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction opened at The Hague on April 28 - the first such conference in the history of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), established in 1997. One hundred and fifty-one states are parties to the Convention. In the opening remarks of OPCW Director General Rogelio Pfirter and in the speeches of a number of delegates, it was stressed that the Convention, aiming at the elimination of a whole type of weapons of mass destruction, is at the same time carrying out the important function of preventing the spread of the chemical threat. The head of the Russian delegation, Sergey Kiriyenko, the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Volga Federal District and Chairman of the State Commission on Chemical Disarmament, in his statement drew participants' attention to the necessity of maintaining the effectiveness of control over the implementation of the Convention. He thoroughly informed delegates of the successful course of the implementation of the Federal Purpose-Oriented Program of Chemical Disarmament in Russia. There was a considerable positive response to the announcement that Russia had earlier than planned completed on April 26, 2003, the execution of the first stage of liquidation of the stockpiles of chemical weapons, by destroying at its facility in Gorny, Saratov Region, 400 tons of mustard gas (1 percent of the total stockpiles of Russian chemical weapons). Next in line is the construction of larger-scale chemical disarmament facilities in Kambarka and Shchuchye. On the same day Kiriyenko had conversations with the OPCW Director General, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the heads of a number of foreign delegations. It was emphasized on our side that the further fulfillment by Russia of its convention obligations remains one of its chief foreign policy priorities. The foreign partners reiterated their readiness to lend the Russian Federation technical and financial assistance under the Global Partnership program against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction so as to arrive at concrete results toward the G8 summit to be held at Evian. The work of the conference will last two weeks. Its participants will have to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the initial five-year period of OPCW activity and of the Convention implementation and to outline the measures for strengthening the Convention regime and enhancing the efficacy in the activities of the OPCW. At the end of the work, a political declaration and a final document on the review of the operation of the Convention will be adopted. Return to Menu 4. U.S. Urges Serious Consequences For Non-Proliferation Treaty Violators [...] The Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty's core purpose is preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. It's in the title. While the Treaty has been largely successful in this respect, irresponsible NPT parties are taking actions that pose fundamental challenges to the Treaty. [...] Many here already have spoken to the key importance of disarmament and the need to match the Treaty's disarmament and nonproliferation obligations. And I quite agree with that. Balance, balance, is an inherent part of the Treaty. The Treaty has three pillars: nonproliferation, disarmament, and peaceful nuclear cooperation. But the fact is, today, the Treaty is dangerously out of balance. Disarmament continues, and in fact took a significant step forward with the signing of the Moscow Treaty. We are leading that process, and we will continue to do so. In the past 15 years, huge strides have been made in reducing and eliminating nuclear weapons. The United States has dismantled over 13,000 nuclear weapons. We have eliminated more than a dozen different types of warheads and we have reduced the number of nuclear weapons by about 60%. Under the Moscow Treaty we will cut the number of strategic weapons again by two-thirds to 1,700 to 2,200 by the year 2012. In two decades, the United States will have eliminated or decommissioned three-quarters of its strategic arsenal. We have also given up whole classes of tactical nuclear weapons, and we have withdrawn remaining stocks from almost every overseas site. We also are making progress under the U.S.-Russia agreement that ensure excess fissile material can never be used in nuclear weapons. Over their lifetime, these agreements will contribute to the irreversibility of nuclear reductions. They will ensure that fissile material capable of manufacturing over 30,000 nuclear weapons is no longer available for such use. And that's not all. We are purchasing from Russia low-enriched uranium for reactor fuel that has been down-blended from hundreds of tons of highly enriched uranium, uranium from dismantled warheads. The United States and Russia have agreed to permanently dispose of 34 tons each of weapons usable plutonium. We spend about a $1 billion a year on a variety of nonproliferation and threat reduction programs in Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union. And much of this effort is to reduce nuclear material stocks and secure that which remains. We fostered last year's decision by G-8 Leaders to launch a Global Partnership and commit up to $20 billion over 10 years for nonproliferation assistance. The United States' share of that $20 billion is $10 billion. Some may debate whether this pace is fast enough -- but it is not credible to argue that we are not on a steady downward path toward the goals of Article VI. Yet, the path for nuclear proliferation is spiraling upward. And what must we do? IAEA safeguards play an indispensable role in the process of ensuring confidence in NPT compliance, but safeguards need further strengthening. We rely on the IAEA to safeguard peaceful nuclear programs around the world and to look for evidence of clandestine activities. It must have the resources and the resolve necessary to ensure that peaceful nuclear programs are not mere facades. The work of this unique international organization advances our collective security. We need to respond positively to the IAEA's chronic shortfall in regular budget safeguards funding. At the same time, we must recognize that it will take more than additional funding for the IAEA to meet its maximum verification potential under the NPT. NPT parties must recognize the dangers that exist, and they must summon the political will to support a more assertive IAEA safeguards system. More resources must be matched with strengthened enforcement. We need to take the next big step by substantially increasing the political momentum behind the Additional Protocol. In May of last year, President Bush transmitted the U.S.-IAEA Additional Protocol to the U.S. Senate for its advice and consent to ratification. In doing so, the President made clear his support for universal adoption of the Additional Protocol. Since we met last year, there has been some progress globally in acceptance of the Additional Protocol. But the pace should intensify. Some states with significant nuclear programs have yet to bring a Protocol before the Board. The 2005 NPT Review Conference offers a target date for action. All NPT parties, including my government, should exert a maximum effort to have a Protocol in force in 2005. Sustained and rapid progress over the next two years in completing both Protocols and the 48 NPT safeguards agreements that are not yet in force would represent a solid achievement in support of the NPT and global security. Even NPT parties with no civil nuclear programs can contribute. Every safeguards agreement and Protocol that is concluded reinforces the fabric of the NPT and assists the IAEA in verifying that nuclear programs are genuinely peaceful. There is a task for members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and for the Zangger Committee as well. They should continue to search for ways to ensure that items under their control do not find their way into nuclear weapon programs. Information sharing among NSG states is critical to this goal. But members must act on this information by recognizing the increased risk of diversion and they must act to deny nuclear-related items to states of concern. We applaud the recent action by the NSG to address the threat of terrorism. These supplier groups can provide a boost to the Additional Protocol by adopting it as a condition of supply, perhaps by 2005. And strong national export controls are essential to enforcing the goals of the NSG and the NPT. There should be severe penalties for those who violate the law. And supplier governments must have authority to stop items not on the control lists. We should consider incorporating the concept of "catch-all" controls as an explicit NSG requirement. We all need to reflect on the fact, that North Korea and Iran obtained proven enrichment technologies largely undetected, even though, suppliers increased their scrutiny of enrichment transactions more than a decade ago. The ongoing effort to amend the Physical Protection Convention will strengthen international standards for protecting nuclear material and facilities used for peaceful purposes. A resolution adopted at last fall's IAEA General Conference noted with concern the lack of progress and called for the early completion of negotiations on an amendment. The drafting group convened by the IAEA Director General completed its work in March without reaching a consensus. It is time for parties to set aside political agendas and to realize our common goal. The need for an amended Convention is as critical as ever. International cooperation in securing and regulating radioactive sources was given a boost last month at a conference in Vienna co-sponsored by Russia and the United States. And more than 120 countries joined the call for stronger national and international security over radioactive sources, especially the kind that can be used in "dirty bombs." Among the key recommendations were the need for national plans, to manage sources throughout their lifetime, as well as to locate, recover and secure high-risk radioactive sources. This is not an issue on which interests of developed and developing countries differ. Virtually no state is immune from the risk posed by these sources. Here is another opportunity for us to work together. The U.S. will be active in helping. [...] Return to Menu J. Links of Interest 1. Iraq and the Global Challenge of Proliferation Return to Menu 2. Hair-Trigger Missiles Risk Catastrophic Terrorism Return to Menu DISCLAIMER: Nuclear News is presented for informational purposes only. Views presented in any given article are those of the individual author or source and not of RANSAC. RANSAC takes no responsibility for the technical accuracy of information contained in any article presented in Nuclear News. RANSAC's Nuclear News is compiled two to three times weekly. To be automatically removed from our mailing list, click on the following link: Remove Me From The List If you have questions/comments/concerns, please reply to news@216.119.87.134 |
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