British American Security Information Council

ISSUE AREAS:

NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY

2005 NPT Review Conference
New York, 2 - 27 May 2005

On 27 May 2005, the seventh Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference ended without reaching any substative agreement on how to make further progress on nuclear non-proliferation or disarmament. The failure of the conference to reach agreement was due to the entrenched positions of a small number of states, such as the United States and Iran, which have an interest in keeping options open for their nuclear programmes in future.

BASIC staff and consultants attended the Review Conference and were able to brief delegates and media on the issues under discussion. Following the Review Conference BASIC will continue to advocate for strengthening the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and for full implementation of the agreements on non-proliferation and disarmament reached at the NPT Review Conferences in 1995 and 2000.

In Spring 2005, BASIC and the Oxford Research Group (ORG) published a briefing series, providing concrete recommendations to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The full set is available below. Further information about the 2005 NPT Review Conference is also available on the website of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy at http://www.acronym.org.uk/npt.

BASIC/ORG Briefing Series

Breakthrough or Bust in 2005? published in January 2005, introduces a series of short, issue-based briefings published by BASIC and the Oxford Research Group, providing concrete recommendations to strengthen the non-proliferation, compliance and disarmament functions of the NPT. We suggest that the NPT will only remain relevant if it is universally accepted that it stands for compliance by all, for all, without exception or excuse.

download in pdf (1062kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

Latest Publications

Time for the US and UK to make a breakthrough at the conference on nuclear weapons in New York, Press Release, 17 May 2005.

Report from the second week of the NPT 2005 Review Conference, by Carol Naughton, BASIC consultant, 16 May 2005.

Presentations by Non-Governmental Organisations to the Review Conference, including NATO Nuclear Sharing or Proliferation? presented by Carol Naughton, BASIC are now available at the UN website.

Report from the first week of the NPT 2005 Review Conference, by Carol Naughton, BASIC consultant, 8 May 2005.

Achieving a Breakthrough in ’05: Balanced Progress Needed in All Three Pillars, BASIC/ORG Project, May 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Major International Conference starts Monday with no Agenda, BASIC Press Release, 27 April 2005.

"Towards A Breakthrough at the 2005 NPT Review Conference", Report from an off-the-record consultation hosted jointly with UNIDIR Palais des Nations, Geneva, 13 April 2005.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: The “Achilles Heel” of the Non- Proliferation Regime? BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.16, April 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Addressing the Challenge of Iran, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.15, April 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Leading by the Wrong Example: New Nuclear Weapons Developments in the United States, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.14, April 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Counter-proliferation in a Non-proliferation World, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.13, April 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

The Need for a Strengthened IAEA Safeguards System, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.12, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Towards a Universal Nuclear Non-Proliferation Regime, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.11, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

A Promise Not Realised: Nuclear Disarmament by the Nuclear Weapon States, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.10, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

The Illegality of Nuclear Weapons, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.9, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

NATO: Nuclear Sharing or Proliferation?, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.8, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

The Importance of a Fissile Material Treaty, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.7, March 2005
download in pdf | view as an ordinary webpage

Challenging the NPT: North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.6, March 2005
download in pdf (122kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

The US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement: Contributing to vertical proliferation? BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.5, March 2005
download in pdf (113kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

Test Moratorium and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, BASIC/ORG Project , Briefing No.4, March 2005
download in pdf (131kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

Turning Security Assurances into a Legally Binding Instrument, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.3, February 2005
download in pdf (321kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

Nuclear Weapons Free Zones: The Untold Success Story of Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.2, February 2005
download in pdf (544kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

Strengthening the NPT Regime, BASIC/ORG Project, Briefing No.1, February 2005
download in pdf (660kb) | view as an ordinary webpage

NPT Review Conference Roundup

NPT Review Conference Roundup, selected highlights of relevant statements and reports, January - March 2005

Background Documents & Statements

Latest official statements and documents from the Review Conference are available from the UN website at http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/statements.html.

Challenge of controlled access to nuclear fuels without diversion into weapons programmes, letter to the Financial Times from Nigel Chamberlain, BASIC, May 6, 2005.

What does not exist cannot proliferate, Celso Amorim, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Dermot Ahern, Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista, Phil Goff, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Laila Freivalds, op-ed in the International Herald Tribune, May 2, 2005.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Nobuyasu Abe, on Challenges and Legal Issues for the 2005 Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference, March 17, 2005

US Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Fitzpatrick, on the 35th anniversary of the NPT's entry into force, March 17, 2005

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, on the 35th anniversary of the NPT's entry into force, March 4, 2005

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Statement on the NPT, February 23, 2005

Non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament in 2005. The international community faces a stark choice, argues Nigel Chamberlain in Science and Public Affairs, March 2005.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Arms Control Association now have an NPT information site. The CEIP now also have the final version of "Universal Compliance" available at: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=16593

Non-Proliferation Review Debate in the British Parliament, Westminster Hall, 8 March 2005, Column 399WH.

President's Statement on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty, The Whitehouse, 7 March 2005.

Tackling the Nuclear Dilemma: An Interview With IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei February 4, 2005. Paul Kerr and Miles Pomper Mohamed ElBaradei has served as the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 1997. In this position, he is charged with ensuring compliance with the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). In a Feb. 4 interview with Arms Control Today, ElBaradei provided his views on how to strengthen the NPT on the eve of a once-every-five-years NPT Review Conference.

Fulfilling the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty's Promise, an Arms Control Association sponsored panel discussion featuring presentations by Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker, Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Roberto Abdenur, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Senior Associate and Director for Non-Proliferation Joseph Cirincione, February 3, 2005.

Curbing the Nuclear Threat by IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Op-ed in the Financial Times, 2 February 2005

Atlanta Consultation II: On the Future of the NPT, The Middle Powers Initiative organized an Extraordinary Strategy Consultation on the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) 2005 Review Conference in cooperation with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, January 26-28, 2005.

'Nonproliferation and Disarmament Go Hand in Hand', New Agenda Coalition op-ed in the International Herald Tribune, September 22, 2004

Joint Ministerial Statement on the CTBT, New York, September 23, 2004

Reaching Critical Will is collecting and publishing official documents and statements from the NPT PrepCom. These will be updated throughout the PrepCom.

BASIC Coverage of Previous Review Conferences and PrepComs

NPT Resources & Links

Back to Nuclear and WMD

BASIC UK: The Grayston Centre, 2nd Floor, 28 Charles Square London N1 6HT, +44-(0)20-7324 4680
BASIC US: 110 Maryland Ave, NE, Suite 205, Washington, DC 20002, +1 202 546 8055