BASIC FACTS

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in central Africa. The country has a 25-mile Atlantic coastline and it borders the Republic of Congo to the west, the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania to the east, Zambia to the southeast, and Angola to the southwest. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a semi-presidential republic that gained its independence in 1960. 

Capital: Kinshasa

The Democratic Republic of the Congo does not have any nuclear power plants.

Congo has two research reactors in permanent shutdown (TRICO I) and extended shutdown (TRICO II), respectively. TRICO I was fully operational from 1959 until 1970, when it was shutdown and dismantled, although it has yet to be decommissioned. Its successor, TRICO II, reached first criticality in 1972 but has not been in operation since 2003. Resuming operation of TRICO II is currently under consideration after a series of safety assessments conducted by the IAEA. Before a final decision can be made, the reactor requires various structural improvements.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

• Joined the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1961
• Signed Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968
• Ratified in 1970
• Signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993
• Ratified in 2005
• Acceded to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1972
• Ratified in 1975
• Signed Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996
• Ratified in 2004
• Signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2009
• Signed the Convention on Environmental Modification Techniques (ENMOD) in 1978
• Signed the Kinshasa Convention in 2010
• Acceded to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention in 2002
• Acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) in 2004
• Acceded to the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2010
• Signed the Outer Space Treaty in 1967
• Signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963
• Ratified in 1965
• Signed the Pelindaba Treaty in 1996
• Signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in 2017

REGIONAL GROUPS

• Member of the G-77
• Member of the Conference on Disarmament
• Member of the G-21
• Member of the African Group
• Member of the African Union

LINKS

SADC Member State Democratic Republic of the Congo

Paper on the Shinkolobwe Uranium Mine

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Membership in International Organizations Related to Disarmament