"Nuclear disarmament is at a crossroads," said
GreenpeaceInternational's Disarmament specialist, William Peden,
who's attendingthe conference.
"If the 2005 conference fails to reach consensus, the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty will exist in name only."
This would leave the world faced with a potential catastrophic
armsrace in highly sensitive regions like the Middle East and the
northeastAsia region.
"Statements by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms
ControlStephen Rademaker, on his government's intentions to pursue
Iran overtheir uranium enrichment activities, together with Iran's
pastresistance to transparency, are fuelling an atmosphere of
sabrerattling that has potentially dangerous consequences for
millions ofpeople," according to Peden.
The situation in North Korea is equally critical. While the
Bushadministration promotes the concept of 'preventive war' and
threatensthe use of nuclear weapons, North Korea threatens to test
its ownnuclear weapons.
Currently there are between 30 and 40 countries with a nuclear
weaponscapability that could be converted into nuclear weapons
within months.
"Moving all nation States away from possessing or aspiring to
developnuclear weapons must become a priority at this conference.
(1)
"The leadership of all the Nuclear Weapons States must now
honour theirobligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty and take
concrete stepsto eliminate their existing nuclear arsenals,"
concluded Peden.
Greenpeace supports UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's opening
commentsat the conference calling for both the US and Russia to
makeirreversible drastic cuts to their arsenals. While this is a
welcome first step in the right direction, both countriesmust
honour their past agreements and seriously start implementingrather
than just talking about total disarmament.
Other contacts: Michael Kessler, Greenpeace International Media Officer, +34 660 637 053William Peden, Greenpeace International Nuclear Disarmament Researcher +1 6462 474 017Shaun Burnie, Greenpeace International Nuclear campaigner (North Asia) +82 1196 595 225Duncan Currie, Greenpeace International legal and nuclear policy advisor +1 917 412 0373
Notes: 1. Greenpeace is calling for the implementation of four major recommendations which it believes are essential to achieving the purposes of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament under the NPT:(i) The States Parties to the NPT should reaffirm their unequivocal support for the decisions taken at the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences and further strengthen them at the 2005 NPT RevCon.(ii) The States parties to the NPT should agree to an immediate moratorium on and a timetable for the complete phase out of uranium enrichment and nuclear reprocessing for civil and military purposes.(iii) The NPT States Parties should agree to start negotiations immediately on a comprehensive and verifiable fissile material treaty at the Conference on Disarmament with the aim of ending all production, stockpiling and use, and reject the recommendations of the IAEA Expert Working Group on Multilateral Approaches to the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and the US Department of Energy in particular.(iv)The NPT States Parties should decide on a moratorium on all shipments of plutonium until the discriminatory nature of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) can be remedied.Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
Exp. contact date: 2005-05-30 00:00:00