VERTIC’s senior researcher for Verification and Monitoring, Noel Stott, participated in a depositary-hosted Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Opening for Signature of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) on 28 June 2018. On 1 July 1968, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was opened for signature in three depository state capitals: Washington, London, and Moscow.

VERTIC’s senior researcher for Verification and Monitoring, Noel Stott, participated in a depositary-hosted Conference on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Opening for Signature of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) on 28 June 2018. On 1 July 1968, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was opened for signature in three depository state capitals: Washington, London, and Moscow.

Hosted by the U.S. State Department, and in co-operation with depositary counterparts in the Russian Foreign Ministry and United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the one-day conference, titled ‘Preserving the Legacy’, included participants in the negotiation of the NPT itself and others who have had significant roles in building the non-proliferation regime over the years.

The conference was opened with brief speeches by U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, the British Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch and Anatoly I Antonov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation. Participants provided a historical perspective and examined possible lessons for today. The NPT provided the essential foundation for international efforts to stem the threat that nuclear weapons would spread across the planet. It has also significantly contributed to international security in general while at the same time facilitating co-operation on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to diagnose and cure diseases, develop new crops, manage scarce water resources, and develop technologies that meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

A collection of historical NPT photos is available here.