The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty came into force in 1970, following widespread international concern about the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation and the spiraling nuclear weapon stocks of those states that had developed them. It is a binding multilateral treaty with the goal of general and complete nuclear weapons disarmament.
The UK is one of five states that had already acquired nuclear weapons before the treaty was signed – the other nuclear weapon states are the United States, Russia, China and France. The treaty establishes that those states without nuclear weapons agree not to acquire them and those with nuclear weapons agree to disarm. It also gives states the right to develop civil nuclear power. The UK does not have any right to possess nuclear weapons under the treaty; instead it is legally bound to disarm.
Three states, Israel, India and Pakistan did not sign the NPT. They stayed outside the treaty framework and have developed nuclear weapons. North Korea signed the treaty but withdrew from it in 2003.
Article VI of the treaty provides for nuclear disarmament:
Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.
13 practical steps
The progress of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is evaluated every five years at an international Review Conference. The final document of the conference in 2000 agreed 13 practical steps which further committed progress on disarmament. Steps 6 and 9 agreed:
6. An unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament to which all States parties are committed under Article VI.
9. Steps by all the nuclear-weapon States leading to nuclear disarmament in a way that promotes international stability, and based on the principle of undiminished security for all:
- Further efforts by the nuclear-weapon States to reduce their nuclear arsenals unilaterally
- Increased transparency by the nuclear-weapon States with regard to the nuclear weapons capabilities and the implementation of agreements pursuant to Article VI and as a voluntary confidence-building measure to support further progress on nuclear disarmament
- The further reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons, based on unilateral initiatives and as an integral part of the nuclear arms reduction and disarmament process
- Concrete agreed measures to further reduce the operational status of nuclear weapons systems
- A diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies to minimize the risk that these weapons ever be used and to facilitate the process of their total elimination
- The engagement as soon as appropriate of all the nuclear-weapon States in the process leading to the total elimination of their nuclear weapons
In addition to the 13 steps, the five declared nuclear weapon states signed a final document giving ‘an unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals’.
Support for a Nuclear Weapons Convention
The Review Conference of 2010 was especially important because it was widely felt that another conference like the one in 2005, which resulted in no agreement or progress, might lead to the breakdown of the treaty.
In 2010 too, a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) was a key issue for the first time, both among civil society participants and government delegations. NGOs handed in 20 million signatures on petitions calling for a NWC and the majority of countries (the Non-Aligned Movement comprising 116 states and 28 other individual states besides) indicated their support in their statements for an international ban on nuclear weapons or a NWC to be negotiated. The nuclear weapon states: Russia, France, the UK and the US do not support a NWC and efforts were made to exclude any mention of it from the Final Document agreed by the Conference. There was also no agreement on a timeline for disarmament. Yet support for a NWC was strong enough for it to be mentioned in the Final Document as stated in Ban Ki-moon's five-point proposal as a contribution towards achieving 'a world without nuclear weapons'.
Replacing Trident will commit the UK to owning nuclear weapons until at least 2050 which, since the NPT came into force in 1970, would mean 80 years of non-compliance with its disarmament obligation.
Full text of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Full text of the final document of the NPT Review Conference 2000
