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U.S. Seeks to End Right to Uranium Enrichment Under Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
U.S. President George W. Bush is pushing for a reinterpretation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, arguing that the right to manufacture nuclear fuel should be limited to those countries already producing it, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, March 8). A little more than a year ago, after the arrest of Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, Bush began to promote a plan to prevent additional countries from becoming nuclear fuel producers, according to the Times. Last Tuesday, Bush issued a statement commemorating the treaty’s 35th anniversary. “We cannot allow rogue states that violate their commitments and defy the international community to undermine the treaty’s fundamental role in strengthening international security,” the statement says. “We must therefore close the loopholes that allow states to produce nuclear materials that can be used to build bombs under the cover of civilian nuclear programs.” On Sunday, national security adviser Stephen Hadley connected the administration’s position on the treaty to Iran (see GSN, March 14). Iran’s leaders concealed much of their enrichment activity for nearly two decades, Hadley told CNN, adding that their behavior “raises serious suspicions” about Iran’s nuclear plans. He said the European Union has come to agree with the U.S. view that “the best guarantee is for [Iran] to permanently abandon their enrichment facilities.” Administration officials said renegotiating the treaty would be too cumbersome. By the time there was consensus among all 189 member states, “The Iranians will look like the North Koreans, waving their bombs around. We can’t afford to make that mistake again,” said one official who recently left the White House. Some experts have agreed that the treaty must be altered, but find fault with the U.S. approach. Bush and International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei agree that established nuclear nations should supply fuel to others, but they have different proposals for bringing that about. Smaller countries, however, object to effectively being dependent on others for energy, according to the Times (David Sanger, New York Times, March 15).
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