Title:  "Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Is 20 Years Old." US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Norman Wulf notes benefits of treaty. (900302)

Author:  SAKS, MICHAEL R (USIA STAFF WRITER)
Date:  19900302

Text:
*POL510

03/02/90 1AC Re NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY IS 20 YEARS OLD (Wulf of ACDA notes benefits of treaty) (690) By Michael R. Saks USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which celebrates its 20th anniversary on March 5, "is probably the most successful arms control treaty in history," U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) official Norman Wulf said March 2.

Since its inception in 1970, 140 nations have joined the treaty, the acting assistant director for nuclear and weapons control at ACDA remarked. The NPT "is the foundation of U.S. nuclear non-proliferation efforts and it remains U.S. policy to encourage all states not yet adherent to that treaty to adhere to it," Wulf said during an interview.

Even during the early 1980s, when there was "a disruption in our other arms controls dialogues with the Soviet Union as a result of the deployment of the INF (intermediate-range nuclear force) missiles in Europe," the United States and the Soviet Union continued "fruitful collaboration" on NPT issues, Wulf said. He noted that all East European countries have signed the treaty.

The ACDA official said that "major benefits" to NPT signatories include:

-- Reassurance that neighbors are not developing nuclear weapons, and,

-- Access to the peaceful applications of nuclear energy.

He said that the United States has an "NPT preference policy" with respect to providing technical assistance in nuclear matters to countries which have joined the treaty. "By and large, we do not provide such training and assistance for countries who are not NPT parties," Wulf said.

The treaty requires that all nuclear facilities in the signatory state be subject to international safeguards administered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Wulf explained. There is a system of safeguards which includes on-site verification of nuclear reactors and other facilities to ensure that the nuclear fuel therein is not diverted to non-peaceful purposes, he said.

"Under U.S. law and policy, we will not engage in any nuclear commerce with a non-nuclear weapons state which does not have all of its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards," the ACDA official stated. The United States, France, the United Kingdom, China and the Soviet Union are

GE 2 POL510 considered "nuclear weapons states" and "basically everyone else" is a non-nuclear weapons state, Wulf explained.

"There are several countries -- including India, Pakistan and Israel -- which have or could have nuclear weapons in a very short period of time," he added.

The next NPT review conference is scheduled to take place in Geneva this August. It will be "a very crucial review conference" because it is the last one before the 1995 review conference, when the issue of extending the treaty will be discussed, Wulf said.

In past review conferences, which are held every five years, there has been a lot of criticism as to whether the nuclear weapons states, in particular the superpowers, are meeting their obligations to Article VI of the treaty, he said. That article calls upon all states, including the nuclear weapons states, to engage in negotiations with the objective of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament, Wulf said.

The United States anticipates some criticism on this issue at the upcoming fourth review conference, the ACDA official said. The U.S. response will note that:

-- An INF treaty is leading to the elimination of an entire class of nuclear weapons;

-- A Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that calls for a 50 percent reduction in U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals is nearing completion; and,

-- The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) negotiations in Vienna will lead to substantial reductions in conventional force structures. NNNN