WikipediaExtracts:Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Go to full Wikipedia article on: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Extracted from Wikipedia --

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty, the objective of which is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970. As required by the text, after twenty-five years, NPT parties met in May 1995 and agreed to extend the treaty indefinitely. The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1967; these are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), and China (1964).

As of August 2016, 191 states have become parties to the treaty. North Korea which acceded in 1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal from the NPT in 2003—the only state to do so—and carried out its first nuclear test in 2006. Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan. In addition, South Sudan, founded in 2011, has not joined.

At the time the NPT was proposed, there were predictions of 25 to 30 nuclear weapon states within 20 years. Further non-proliferation initiatives include the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the enhanced verification measures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Additional Protocol.

Critics argue that the NPT cannot stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons or the motivation to acquire them. They express disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, required under Article VI, where the five recognized nuclear-weapon states still have 13,400 warheads in their combined stockpile. UN officials have said that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to produce nuclear weapons.