Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) Members Issue New Guidelines on Nuclear Transfers

CNS Experts Available for Comment

Meeting in Noordwijk, Netherlands, the 45 members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group have issued a new set of guidelines governing the transfer of nuclear technologies related to enrichment and reprocessing. The two technologies can be utilized in peaceful nuclear programs but are considered sensitive because they can also be exploited for the production of fuel for nuclear weapons.

The NSG members have agreed on a "criteria-based" approach to such transfers. The key debate was whether NSG members should insist that any recipient state have in force a model Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. The United States, France, and other states supported making the Additional Protocol, which was developed in response to Iraq's pre-1991 covert nuclear weapons program, a necessary condition for transfers.

Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, a scholar at CNS, wrote a backgrounder on this debate for Arms Control Wonk.com, the leading weblog on arms control disarmament and nonproliferation. ("Additional Protocol and ENR Transfers," May 13, 2011. Available at: http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/3962/ additional-protocol-and-enr-transfers).