UN nuclear chief offers a plan to stop spread of arms
MOSCOW -- The most effective way to stop the spread of nuclear weapons is for the international community to guarantee the supply of nuclear fuel to countries that agree not to produce it themselves, Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the United Nations' nuclear energy watchdog agency said yesterday.
ElBaradei, who is the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is based in Vienna, said this approach would undercut the argument of countries such as Iran.
These arguments assert that acquiring the ability to produce their own nuclear fuel is the only way to shield a civilian energy industry from disruptions in the international fuel supply.
''Objective, apolitical, nonproliferation criteria," ElBaradei said, should be used to guarantee the fuel supplies. ''If a country meets these criteria, it would be assured of the supply of fuel."
Under the proposal, members of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty who do not have nuclear weapons would agree to a moratorium, perhaps for 10 years, on nuclear fuel, ElBaradei said.
The countries would not give up the right to produce the fuel permanently, according to the plan, discussed last month at the annual IAEA general conference in Vienna. Countries receiving internationally supplied fuel would not keep spent fuel.
ElBaradei spoke at a luncheon meeting and subsequent news conference organized by the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
That group, a foundation based in Washington that works to prevent the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, was founded by former senator Sam Nunn, Democrat of Georgia, and Ted Turner, the media mogul, who also were at the luncheon and the news conference.
Last month, the IAEA board approved a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear activities.
It found Iran in noncompliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and required that the country be reported to the UN Security Council at an unspecified date -- a step that, if carried out, could lead to sanctions.
The action followed the breakdown in August of negotiations between Iran and three European Union countries over a proposed agreement that would give Iran economic and technological aid in exchange for a moratorium on uranium enrichment activities.
Enrichment is a process useful both for producing nuclear reactor fuel and for making nuclear weapons. Preventing the spread of such technology is therefore a growing focus of international antiproliferation efforts.
ElBaradei said yesterday that he is optimistic that negotiations between Iran and the European countries will start up again in about a month.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative foundation, ElBaradei said at the news conference, ''has already committed itself to provide a substantial sum of money to build a fuel bank that we can use as a last-resort supplier in case a country is facing difficulty in acquiring the nuclear reactor technology or the nuclear fuel."
Nunn said that ElBaradei's proposal to supply countries with fuel, impose a moratorium on production, and mandate the return of spent fuel to suppliers covers ''the three components that in my view are absolutely essential to begin to close this huge loophole."
