The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons and their eventual elimination through the three elements of non-proliferation, disarmament, and peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Opened for signature: 1 July 1968.
Entered into force: 5 March 1970.
Duration: Indefinite. Twenty five years after the entry into force of the NPT, at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference held in New York at the United Nations from 17 April to 12 May 1995, States Parties agreed without a vote "that the Treaty shall continue in force indefinitely."
A comprehensive history of NPT negotiation in the multilateral fora in Ambassador Shaker's three-volume study "The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Origins and Implementation, 1959-1979" (in PDF format):
Preface
Mohamed Shaker Biosketch
Volume 1 [494 pages, 17 MB]
Volume 2 [475 pages, 17 MB]
Volume 3 [608 pages, 46 MB]
What is the NPT Review Process?
What does the Preparatory Committee do?
Find out the answers.
Ask CNS Experts about the NPT PrepCom meeting, which will be held from 30 April to 11 May 2012 in Vienna, Austria. It is the first of three sessions that will be held prior to the 2015 Review Conference.
Glossary of terms relating to Treaty actions
As required by the NPT, every five years states parties convene to review the implementation of the treaty and, since 1995, to set a forward-looking agenda for its further operation. States parties also hold 10-day Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meetings in each of the three years preceding the Review Conferences (RevCon). If necessary, a fourth PrepCom may be held in the year of the Conference.
Four of the Review Conferences, those in 1975, 1985, 2000 and 2010, concluded with the adoption of a substantive final document. The 1995 Review and Extension Conference adopted a set of three Decisions and a Resolution on the Middle East, but could not agree on a final document. The final document in 2010 consisted of two parts, review and conclusions and recommendations for follow-on actions, of which only the latter was adopted by consensus and is known as the 2012 NPT Action Plan.
Click on an interactive timeline to explore the history of major nuclear events.
You can also download Historical Timeline of Major Nuclear Events in pdf format
here.
Ambassador Mohamed Shaker
Virtues and Shortcomings of the NPT
Ambassador Mohamed Shaker
Challenges to the NPT