Drawn up during the Cold War 41 years ago, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) aimed to stop the nuclear arms race and secure international cooperation on civilian uses of nuclear energy.
The treaty was concluded in 1968, five years after te United States and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty. The NPT went into effect in 1970, initially for a 25-year period. But it was extended indefinitely in 1995 with evaluations scheduled every five years.
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Signatories Olmert admitted last December Israel had nukes * 189 nations have ratified the pact to date, including the five major nuclear powers who are also the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
* Iran is a signatory to the NPT and has allowed IAEA inspectors into the country at various times.
* North Korea withdrew from the pact in 2003. It exploded its first nuclear bomb three years later.
* More countries have ratified the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement, according to the United Nations. |
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Non-signatories * India and Pakistan, de facto nuclear powers since testing atomic weapons in 1998, have not yet signed the treaty.
* Israel, which has never publicly acknowledged having a nuclear arsenal but is internationally recognized as having several nuclear weapons, has not signed the treaty. |
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Benefits and obligations The start up the nuclear reactor in the Bushehr plant has been delayed frequently * Under the treaty, nuclear powers are forbidden from transferring nuclear weapons or helping other states from acquiring them.
* Non-nuclear states agree not to develop or acquire such weapons. But they can have access to nuclear energy for peaceful uses under supervision by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
* Iran accepted at the end of 2003 an additional measure allowing the body to make surprise and extensive checks of its nuclear sites.
* Roughly 100 countries have signed the additional protocol, including the United States under the former Bush administration late last year. |
