07 October 2009
Nuclear Nonproliferation a Shared Responsibility, Official Says
Washington — Efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and prevent nuclear terrorism must be shared, including “collective efforts” by countries to prevent others from crossing “the nuclear threshold,” the State Department’s top diplomat on arms control told the United Nations General Assembly October 6.
In her prepared remarks for the general debate of the U.N. General Assembly First Committee in New York, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher said the Obama administration has begun taking “concrete steps” to rid the world of nuclear weapons, but the endeavor must be “a shared responsibility because no single nation, no matter how powerful, can do this alone.”
The under secretary said U.N. Security Council Resolution 1887, adopted in September, was a “breakthrough” in reducing the threat from nuclear weapons. The measure calls on all parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to comply fully with their nonproliferation and disarmament obligations, “affirms that effective [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards are essential to nonproliferation,” and “makes clear the Security Council’s intent to address NPT violations,” she said.
Among its actions, the United States is negotiating a follow-on agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia to further reduce the number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems in both countries, she said.
“Within a few years the United States will have 75 percent fewer strategic nuclear weapons deployed than at the end of the Cold War,” Tauscher said.
In addition, President Obama has called for an April 2010 summit on nuclear security to address the threat from nuclear terrorism and the need to secure nuclear materials.
The under secretary also said the United States will do its part to reinvigorate the NPT, which she described as the “cornerstone” of the international nonproliferation regime.
“The basic bargain of the NPT is sound: countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them, and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy. We are prepared to do our part to fulfill all three pillars of this vital international agreement,” Tauscher said.
The Obama administration is also working with the U.S. Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), with the goal of having nuclear testing around the world become “a distant memory.”
To end the production of materials needed for atomic weapons, the United States is also supporting the start of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT), which is part of a work plan that was adopted in May by the Conference on Disarmament, she said.
“We urge conference members not to get bogged down in procedural motions and objections to halt FMCT negotiations when the conference reconvenes in January [2010].” Although the United States understands some countries have concerns over the proposed treaty, Tauscher said, there will be opportunity for discussions.
“The conference has been idle too long; it’s time we got back to work,” the under secretary said.
Tauscher said the United States also remains fully committed to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, and “no government has done more than ours to eliminate excess conventional arms and ammunition, and to stem the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons.”
All of these steps, in the short term, “will promote a more secure and stable international environment, enhance the nuclear nonproliferation regime and make it more difficult for terrorist groups to acquire nuclear weapons or materials,” she said.
But “the United States cannot do it alone,” she continued. Given the commonly shared threats, she said, every country must “take an ownership” in reducing the threat from nuclear weapons.
“That responsibility does not end with a decision to forgo nuclear weapons and accept safeguards to demonstrate the sincerity of that decision. It must continue through the participation in collective efforts to impede others from crossing the nuclear threshold,” Tauscher said.
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