Abstract:
On 13 December 1991, Argentina and Brazil signed an agreement allowing for mutual inspection of their respective nuclear facilities. The agreement is the culmination of efforts by the two countries to put an end to their rivalry in the area of atomic research. Argentina and Brazil have been exchanging visits to their nuclear facilities since 1987 and in July 1991 the two nations signed an accord to use nuclear energy for only peaceful purposes. The accord established a Brazilian-Argentine agency for accounting and control of nuclear materials. Argentina and Brazil previously had several of their nuclear facilities under international safeguards, but until now a number of operations, including fuel reprocessing, enrichment and fabrication, were excluded from the safeguards. Both nations are believed to be able to produce enriched uranium of almost weapons-grade, but neither has signed the NPT, a document which many Latin American countries consider unfair to non-nuclear states. Presidents Collor de Mello of Brazil and Menem of Argentina have pledged to push their countries toward ratification and enforcement of the Treaty of Tlatelolco which bans nuclear weapons from Latin America. Hans Blix, director general of the IAEA and Marlin Fitzwater, US White House spokesman applauded the Brazil-Argentina agreement as a significant event in the nuclear non-proliferation arena. Fitzwater encouraged other Latin American nations to follow the lead of Argentina and Brazil. ..... Related Articles: The IAEA safeguards pact signed on 13 December 1991 by Brazil and Argentina "covers all nuclear materials in all nuclear activities within the territories of Argentina and Brazil, under their jurisdiction or carried out under their control anywhere. It further provides for the application of safeguards to exports of nuclear material." The agreement was signed by the Brazilian ambassador to the IAEA Thereza Maria Machado Quintella, her Argentine counterpart Jorge Alberto Taiana, IAEA Director General Hans Blix and Jorge Coll, secretary general of the Brazilian- Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material. A draft version of the agreement was approved by the IAEA Board of Governors on 7 December 1991. The final draft of the agreement will enter into force as soon as Brazil and Argentina formally ratify it. (Nuclear News, January 1992, p. 18, "Argentina and Brazil Signed a Joint IAEA Safeguards Pact.") ..... The Brazilian-Argentine safeguards agreement signed with the IAEA on 13 December 1991 will cost the IAEA $400,000 to enforce in 1992. This amount covers the cost of ad hoc inspections and negotiation of subsidiary arrangements. In 1993 ad hoc inspections and equipment will cost the IAEA another $1.5 million. Staffing costs over both years will amount to $850,000. Costs of installing the safeguards equipment cannot yet be estimated. (Nucleonics Week, 9 January 1992, p. 12 by Gamini Seneviratne, "Argentina-Brazil Pact Called Big Boost to Safeguards.")