Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Disarmament Database

Start typing and accept a suggested keyword
or type keywords separated by spaces

Country Profile: Myanmar

BASIC FACTS

Myanmar is a Member Country of the NAM Movement since 1961.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia. Myanmar borders India and Bangladesh to northwest, China to northeast, and Laos and Thailand to southeast. Myanmar is a parliamentary republic that gained its independence in 1948.

Capital: Nay Pyi Taw

Myanmar does not possess any nuclear power plants, research reactors, or other nuclear facilities. However, in 2023, the country signed new nuclear energy agreement with Russia to build a small nuclear power plant2. Previously in 2001, Myanmar, also with support from Russia, aspired to build a 10-15 MW light water pool-type research reactor and an isotope laboratory, but the project has been postponed indefinitely due to the country political instability3.According to a 2001 Myanmar Ministry of Energy report, Myanmar has 5 uranium deposits: Magwe and Taungdwingyi in Magway province, Kyaukpadaung and Paongpyin in Mandalay province, and Kyauksin in Rakhine province. Four of them contain low-grade uranium ore (less than 0.1 per cent uranium content); only one deposit, Magwe, has up to 0.5 per cent medium-grade. Previously, Myanmar had aspirations to build a 10-15 MW light water pool-type research reactor and an isotope laboratory, but the project has been postponed4.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

  • IAEA Membership (1957)

  • Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (Bangkok Treaty) (1997) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) (1975) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) (1997) 

  • Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol) (1928) 

  • International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) (2007) 

  • Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (1970)  

  • Partial Test Ban Treaty: Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (1963)  

  • Sea-Bed Treaty: Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof (1972)  

  • Arms Trade Treaty(2014) 

  • The Convention on Cluster Munitions (2010)  

  • Treaty on Open Skies (2002) 

  • Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty) (1967) 

  • Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) (ratified-2016)  

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons(TPNW) (signed - 2018) 

 

REGIONAL GROUPS

  • Member of the Conference on Disarmament 

  • Member of the G-77

  • Member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)


        AGREEMENTS (In Force): 

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2017) 

  • Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (2017) 

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1998) 

  • Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (2022) 

  • Convention on Nuclear Safety (2017) 

  • Revised Supplementary Agreements Concerning the Provision of Technical Assistance by the IAEA (1991) 

  • Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology, 2017 (2017) 

  • Agreement between the Union of Myanmar and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (with Protocol) (1995) 

 

LINKS