Arms control & disarmament projects

Project on strengthened nuclear safeguards
Researcher: Andreas Persbo
Funder: Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust

Recent project highlights

17 May 2007
Upcoming VERTIC press briefing: 'How can Iran persuade the rest of the world that its nuclear programme is peaceful?

When:      11.00 a.m., Monday, 21 May 2007
Where:     Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT (map)
Contact:   Jane Awford, Information Officer, VERTIC
                Tel: 020 7065 0880 Mobile: 07801734144.
                Email: jane.awford@vertic.org

Speakers: Andreas Persbo, Nuclear Law and Policy Researcher, VERTIC
                 James Acton, Science and Technology Researcher, VERTIC

Please see 'What's new' for further details, or contact Jane Awford, VERTIC's Information Officer, tel: +44 (0) 20 7065 0880 or by email: jane.awford@vertic.org.

19 April 2007
VERTIC / BASIC seminar at NPT PrepCom in Vienna to discuss Articles III and VI implementation
VERTIC and the British American Security Information Council (BASIC) are holding a seminar, 'Balancing Three with Six: Moving towards a Stable Equilibrium', on Thursday, 3 May 2007 as an NGO side event at the NPT PrepCom in Vienna, Austria. Speakers from both organizations will discuss approaches to balanced implementation of NPT Articles III and VI. The VERTIC presentations are based on forthcoming reports in its Verification Matters series.

All those attending the PrepCom, including representatives of the Permanent Missions to the UN in Vienna, UN staff members, accredited journalists and NGO representatives are invited to attend.

Where: NGO Room in the Austria Center

When: 13:15-14:45 - Thursday, May 3 2007

13.15-13.20
Introductory remarks
Ambassador Johannes Landman, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Conference on Disarmament

13.20-13.45
'Thinking inside the box: exploring legal approaches to build confidence in Iran's nuclear programme'
Andreas Persbo, Nuclear Law and Policy Researcher

'The use of voluntary transparency measures to increase trust in states' nuclear programmes: the case of Iran'
James Acton, Science and Technology Researcher

13.45-14.10
'Beyond the 13 steps: looking to a future without nuclear weapons'
Ian Davis, Co-Executive Director, BASIC

14.10-14.45
Discussion

For further information, contact Jane Awford, Information Officer, VERTIC (jane.awford@vertic.org) or Ian Davis, Co-Executive Director, BASIC (idavis@basicint.org)

VERTIC's Nuclear Law and Policy Researcher discusses 'Iran's nuclear programme and the NPT' at Islamic Students Association roundtable
VERTIC's Nuclear Law and Policy Researcher, Andreas Persbo, gave a presentation on 'Iran's nuclear programme and the NPT' to a roundtable on Iranian nuclear issues on 2 December 2006. He touched on Iran's rights and obligations under the treaty and asked the Iranian government to acknowledge the International Atomic Energy Agency's call for further nuclear transparency. In addition, he highlighted some of the systemic weaknesses of the non-proliferation regime, including the failure by state parties to implement all findings and recommendations of the 2000 NPT review conference. Details of the Islamic Students Association event, which was organized by the Islamic Republic New Agency (IRNA), can be found here, including abstracts of the presentations. A copy of Andreas's presentation will be available to download from the VERTIC website in due course.

For information on and VERTIC's analysis of the Additional Protocol see VERTIC Brief no. 4, '93+10: strengthened nuclear safeguards a decade on' by Kenneth Boutin. The Brief examines the concept and practice of 'integrated nuclear safeguards' and the nature of the Additional Protocol to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which states parties have been urged to sign.

For information on integrated nuclear safeguards from an IAEA perspective see 'Integrated nuclear safeguards: genesis and evolution' by Jill N. Cooley in Verification Yearbook 2003. Ms Cooley provides an insight into the radically changed way in which the IAEA now draws its safeguards conclusions.

Recent VERTIC publications on safeguards-related issues include 'North Korea: the challenge of verifying a moving target' by Kenneth Boutin in Verification Yearbook 2003. VERTIC follows closely all monitoring and verification developments relating to countries of concern, including in particular Iraq and North Korea.

In 'The radiological threat: verification at the source', also in Verification Yearbook 2003, Klaas van der Meer examines the nature of radiological dispersion devices (RDD), the threat they pose, and how accounting, monitoring and verification might help deal with the threat

• Project description
• Publications and online resources

The above publications are available in portable document format (PDF) and require the installation of Adobe Reader 4.0 or higher. To download a free copy of the software visit the Adobe website.