UN Nuclear Agency Head Urges Compliance with Non-Proliferation Treaty

Strategic Insights -

The head of the United Nations nuclear agency, Yukiya Amano, has emphasized the importance of all States complying with their obligations under the international nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty. In a keynote address to the 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues, Amano named Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and Syria as countries not in full compliance with their obligations. He urged Iran to move towards the full implementation of all relevant obligations to build international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Key Takeaways:

  • Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation to enable the IAEA to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.
  • The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) remains a matter of serious concern, with the IAEA unable to implement any safeguards measures in the country since April 2009.
  • Syria has been found to be in non-compliance with its safeguards obligations by the IAEA Board of Governors, and the agency continues to engage with Syria to resolve related outstanding issues.
  • The IAEA supports the creation of new nuclear weapons-free zones and is consulting with Member States on convening a forum on the relevance of existing nuclear weapon-free zones and establishing such a zone in the Middle East.
  • The agency has a strong commitment to making nuclear techniques available for areas such as health care, nutrition, food security, the environment, and water resource management.
  • Cancer in developing countries has been identified as a high priority for the agency, with a focus on ensuring that these countries derive maximum benefit from the IAEA's expertise in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy.

Statistics:

  • The 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues was attended by over 60 delegates representing governments, academia, think tanks, and international organizations.
  • More than 30% of the world's population lives in countries with a non-compliant nuclear program (according to the IAEA).
  • 62% of the world's population has limited access to medical imaging, nuclear medicine, and radiotherapy (estimated by the IAEA).
  • The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant incident led to radioactive contamination of the area, with 100% of the facility being severely damaged.
  • The IAEA has maintained 3,500 nuclear installations worldwide.
  • 150 countries have signed the Non-proliferation Treaty.

Sources:

  • United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
  • The 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues