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U.S. Nuclear Nonproliferation Efforts Expected to Meet With International Criticism
International opposition to several U.S. nuclear nonproliferation initiatives is expected to continue and could become heated at a conference this May in New York to examine the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, Jan. 26). U.S. demands for treaty reform are expected to be met with criticism due to Washington’s continued nuclear arms research and its refusal to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to the Journal. The Bush administration’s most controversial proposal is likely to be a plan to ban sales of nuclear-fuel manufacturing technology to nations that do not already such facilities. France and the United Kingdom have proposed that other countries still be allowed to enter the market if they can prove they have no nuclear arms ambitions, while the United States has argued that proliferators could outmaneuver any such standards. Washington has seen some nonproliferation policy successes, notably its Proliferation Security Initiative, under which roughly 60 countries have agreed to cooperate in intercepting WMD shipments on the high seas. Even Russia, which joined the effort last year but has a long history of weapons sales, in recent months attempted to block alleged shipments passing through its borders of missile components from North Korea to Iran, according to a U.S. official. Other U.S. initiatives have been a tougher sale, including attempting to persuade the Nuclear Suppliers Group to restrict enrichment or reprocessing technology sales to states that are not capable of processing their own fuel, the Journal reported. However, the Group of Eight economic powers last year did agree to a one-year halt on fuel-technology sales to new buyers. While Washington’s widely reported efforts to oust IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei have met resistance (see GSN, Jan. 24), U.S. officials have continued to insist that support for ElBaradei is weak. Washington plans to continue lobbying members of the agency’s Board of Governors in time for an expected vote in June, officials added. Administration officials also expect to press for creation of a special committee within the IAEA Board of Governors, but a U.S. official was purposely vague on the extent of its authority, the Journal reported (Carla Anne Robbins, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 27).
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