IPFM International Panel on Fissile Materials

breifings, briefings, conference on disarmament, consolidation, disarmament, europe, fissile materials, fmct, france, gfmr, heu, india, mox, nonproliferation, nuclear disarmament, nuclear weapons, plutonium, presentation, presentations, reprocessing, russia, stocks, treaties, united kingdom, us-india nuclear deal, washington

IPFM Releases Draft International Treaty to Ban Production of Fissile Materials For Use in Nuclear Weapons: Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty

posted by Alexander Glaser on Feb 13th, 2009 [09:06h]
under: fmct
last edited on Feb 13th, 2009 [12:17h]

The International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) has released for discussion a draft Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty, or FM(C)T. The text of the draft Treaty (available here) is accompanied by a detailed article by article explanation of the basic obligations, verification, implementation and organizational issues associated with the treaty.

Fissile Materials. A neutron is absorbed by the nucleus of a fissile atom (uranium-235 in this example), which splits into two fission products (barium and krypton in this example). The fission of one kilogram of uranium-235 or plutonium releases an energy equivalent to 18,000 tons of high explosive (TNT).

The FM(C)T would ban the production for use in nuclear weapons of fissile materials, the materials that undergo the nuclear fission chain reaction. It has long been seen as essential for strengthening the nonproliferation regime, reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism, and to achieving nuclear disarmament (read more).

In December 1993, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the negotiation of "nondiscriminatory, multilateral, and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices." At the Review Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2000, it was agreed that negotiations should commence immediately in the multilateral Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva, "taking into consideration both nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation objectives... with a view to their conclusion within five years." Notwithstanding, the CD has, for various reasons, not formally launched negotiations on a treaty.

The IPFM draft Treaty aims to meet the conditions laid out by the UN General Assembly and agreed to by the Conference on Disarmament. It seeks to meet both nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation objectives by proposing to put under international safeguards pre-existing stocks of fissile materials that are for civilian use, in excess weapons and assigned to naval fuel.

The Panel hopes that this draft may assist future negotiations of this long overdue Treaty.

The IPFM draft FM(C)T was released on January 29, 2009, during an event organized by the Middle Powers Initiative at Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin. Photo: (c) Axel Mauruszat, 2006

On January 29, 2009, Frank von Hippel, IPFM co-chair, presented elements of the draft for discussion at the Berlin meeting of the Article VI Forum, organized by the Middle Powers Initiative. The presentation, which is available here, focused on questions of the scope & verification of a Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty.

Future presentations of the draft treaty are planned for the NPT Prepcom in New York in May 2009.

For more details of the verification of a FM(C)T see Global Fissile Material Report 2008.

Release of Global Fissile Material Report 2008

posted by Alexander Glaser on Oct 11th, 2008 [09:36h]
under: briefings, gfmr, fmct
last edited on Oct 11th, 2008 [10:26h]

On Friday, 10 October, the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) released its 2008 Global Fissile Material Report and a Companion Volume at the United Nations. The report was presented to the UN General Assembly’s First Committee, which is reponsible for international peace and security.

The Global Fissile Material Report provides an annual review of worldwide stocks, production, and disposition of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium, the key ingredients in nuclear weapons, and assesses global efforts to secure and eliminate these materials. The control of these materials is crucial to nuclear disarmament, to halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and to ensuring that terrorists do not acquire nuclear weapons.

The special focus of the 2008 Global Fissile Material Report is the challenges of achieving a verifiable Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, a long sought after global ban on the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. A treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons is an essential requirement for constraining nuclear arms races and, in the longer term, achieving nuclear disarmament. The production of these materials is the most difficult step in making nuclear weapons.

In 1993, the UN General Assembly called for the negotiation of a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. These negotiations have not yet begun. There have been major disputes among states over the scope of a possible treaty and whether it can be verified. In 2006, the Bush Administration proposed a draft treaty that marked a break with previous U.S. policy, by omitting any provisions for international verification.

In the 2008 Global Fissile Material Report, the International Panel on Fissile Materials has proposed key elements for a verifiable treaty. In addition to a ban on all future production of fissile material for weapons, the Report makes a case that the treaty should also address pre-existing stocks of fissile material held by nuclear weapons states. In particular, the proposed treaty would ban the use for weapons of fissile material that was once in weapons and has been declared as excess because of reductions in nuclear arsenals, materials that have been declared for use in naval-propulsion or other military reactors, and all fissile materials that are in the civilian sector at the time a state joins the treaty.

Conference Room 4, before the event. The slides of the briefing are available here.

The Report also provides technical arguments for how a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty could be verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The report has chapters discussing verification at production facilities, namely uranium enrichment and plutonium separation (reprocessing) facilities; accounting of weapons materials declared excess for military use but still in classified form and highly enriched uranium reserved for naval reactor fuel; inspections at military nuclear sites to ensure they are not concealing covert production facilities; and, the monitoring of shutdown facilities that formerly produced fissile materials for nuclear weapons. The panel concludes, contrary to current US policy, that the treaty could be effectively verified at reasonable cost.

The 2008 Global Fissile Material Report has a Companion Volume: Banning the Production of Fissile Materials for Nuclear Weapons: Country Perspectives on the Challenges to a Fissile Material (Cutoff) Treaty. This volume provides a country-by-country analysis of the concerns of key states to different aspects of a prospective Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. The report covers 11 countries: China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States, i.e., all the weapon states other than North Korea and three key non-weapon states. It proposes specific policy initiatives and compromises that states could make to break the logjam preventing negotiation on a treaty.

IPFM to present Global Fissile Material Report 2007 at the United Nations.

posted by Alexander Glaser on Oct 16th, 2007 [11:19h]
under: briefings, gfmr, fmct
last edited on Oct 17th, 2007 [10:00h]

Harold Feiveson, Alexander Glaser and Frank von Hippel from the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM) will speak at the United Nations on: "Toward a Global Cleanout of Nuclear Weapon Materials."

This event will be sponsored by the U.N. NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, with the cooperation of the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs.

WHEN: Friday, October 19, 1:15-2:45 p.m.

WHERE: Conference Room 8, United Nations Headquarters, NYC

The Global Fissile Material Report 2007 appears on the fiftieth aniversary of a remarkable moment of arms-control history. In November 1957, the U.N. General Assembly Resolution 1148 (XII) called for an agreement to provide for "[...] the cessation of the production of fissionable materials for weapons purposes and the complete devotion of future production of fissionable materials to non-weapons purposes under effective international control; [...]" -- now better known as a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. Here is the full text of the resolution (also as PDF).

Back to all posts