The 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference – a unique opportunity to advance a Nuclear Weapons Convention

The 2010 NPT Review Conference will discuss implementation of the two key pillars of the treaty – nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. These are two-sides of the same coin. As United Nations High Representative Sergio Duarte has said “One cannot worship at the altar of nuclear weapons and raise heresy charges against those who want to join the sect.” More importantly, - the legal, political and technical controls required to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons cannot succeed unless they prohibit nuclear weapons for everyone, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons. Otherwise, there will remain nuclear warheads to steal, fissile materials from which to make bombs, and rationales for nuclear-capable countries to acquire nuclear weapons to ‘defend’ themselves against the nuclear weapons of others. (more on the PNND Website, in a concept paper by Alyn Ware 1/2010, PDF)