Disarmament and International Security - World Model United Nations

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facilitated. 181 The treaty obtained a broad support base when an agreement on language of the treaty was struck after members of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference were assured that the treaty would not be used to impose a generic definition of terrorism. 182 According to many experts, however, although the Convention is a welcome agreement and a step in the right direction, it offers no decisive solutions to the problem. Physical Protection The various measures of physical protection of nuclear weapons, materials and facilities refer to the controls designed to prevent sabotage, thefts, and other attacks. While all nuclear states have their own domestic laws and procedures to maintain physical security of such items, there have also been several international efforts and agreements to improve their standards of protection. The United Nations adopted the Convention of the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material in 1979, which provides for certain levels of physical protection during international transport of nuclear material and establishes a general framework for cooperation among states in the protection, recovery, and return of stolen nuclear material. 183 The International Atomic Energy Agency prepared a set of Physical Protection Objectives and Fundamental Principles in 2001, and has since issued several resolutions on Measures to Protect Against Nuclear Terrorism and has also The International Atomic Energy Agency sends its inspectors to nuclear facilities around the world. http://gstaadblog.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/iaea. jpg assisted states through its International Physical Protection Advisory Service. 184 The United Nations Security Council expressed its support for the increased efforts to strengthen the physical protection of nuclear weapons and materials in its Resolution 1540, which obligated all states to ‘develop and maintain appropriate effective physical protection measures.’ 185 It seems that the current system of international supervisions by the IAEA is relatively effective, and it is now an issue of ensuring compliance rather than of developing new multilateral rules. Proposed Solutions In view of the growing concern over the safety of nuclear materials, there is no single measure that can assure a 100% certainty of success. A response should be based on the scheme called ‘layered defense,’ reflecting the idea that stealing nuclear materials would involve many steps from acquisition to transportation, and that attempting to thwart such attempts at each step has a higher likelihood of success than trying to block one step only. Whether this layered defense is an overarching strategy, or simply a name given to what would happen anyway as many agencies with different capabilities contribute in the ways each is able to, or a bit of both, is another matter. 190 In any case, there are four general categories of programs that are in place in order to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands. Efforts to Secure HEU Worldwide and Threat Reduction Programs Highly Enriched Uranium is still being widely used in reactors around the world, many of which are shockingly poorly guarded. This is an issue of particular concern, because obtaining these extremely dangerous materials is very valuable for terrorists, second only to acquiring an intact nuclear device. So far, however, the efforts to secure stocks of HEU worldwide have been largely ad hoc rather than part of a comprehensive plan. For example, projects Sapphire (1994) and Vinca (2002) reportedly removed HEU from poorly guarded research reactors in Kazakhstan and Serbia, respectively. 191 Several programs are in place with the objective of attempting to achieve a clean-up of Harvard WorldMUN 2012 Disarmament and International Security 32 32
stocks of HEU worldwide. For example, the Global Threat Reduction aimed to secure both used and unused Russianorigin HEU supplies, and to convert the cores of civilian research reactors using HEU to be able to use uranium with lower-enriched uranium which would not be applicable in a nuclear bomb. As mentioned before, however, these efforts are prevalently unilateral and mono-national, and thus such programs should be established through closer international cooperation, especially in the United Nations. An important specific aspect of the problem that should be addressed by the United Nations is the issue of handling of former Soviet nuclear weapons and materials. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States has established several nuclear disarmament programs, such as the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1992, also known as the Nunn-Lugar Amendment, authorizing the United States Department of Defense to assist the Russians in the destruction of Soviet nuclear weapons. In addition, the United States also funds numerous non-proliferation programs to secure nuclear materials from the Soviet era, including the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the International Nuclear Materials Protection and Cooperation and Elimination of Weapons-Grade Plutonium Production, 192 and the United Nations should join in strengthening these efforts. In addition to nuclear materials, it is crucial to secure sources of knowledge in the field of nuclear weapons production, which is especially important in the former Soviet Union states where several experts reside whose knowledge can be dangerous if acquired by terrorists. It is important, therefore, to ensure safety of these scientists and to provide them with grant funding for research on non-nuclear projects. One idea would be to establish international scientific institutes run by the United Nations through its numerous agencies in countries such as Russia or Ukraine. Another unavoidable issue in this area is the problem of security of Iran or North Korea’s nuclear facilities, and decisive diplomatic measures should be attempted to obtain agreements for international inspectors, e.g. from the IAEA, to inspect them. International guidance and assistance can be crucial in ensuring that terrorists do not gain access to these arsenals. Control of Borders International assistance is necessary to ensure that nuclear materials do not leak through the borders of the countries already involved in nuclear research. The already existing programs, such as the Second Line of Defense and the Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance should be strengthened with more international participation and a new comprehensive program could be created under the auspices of the United Nations to assist member states in their efforts to make their borders safe from nuclear trafficking. International cooperation is needed to ensure that current less-than-perfect methods of detection of nuclear materials, such as x-ray-type imaging, physical inspection, and neutron activation, are improved and that new methods are developed. For example, the United Nations, through one of its agencies, e.g. the IAEA, could establish programs deploying radiation monitors at strategic transit and border crossings, as well as airports and seaports throughout the world. Container Security Initiative Shipping containers account for 90 percent of all world cargo, and an annual total of 9 million are offloaded in US ports only. 193 A significant risk exists that nuclear materials could be smuggled via this mode of transport. Therefore, it is beneficial for all nations to reduce this threat by cooperating in establishing security measures in the world’s shipping industry, by developing a network of inspections that would effectively screen containers at all ports around the world before they are shipped. With this in mind, the Container Security Initiative was established in 2002 and is currently operational in 34 ports, with another 13 possible, where host countries’ border security officers work together with international inspectors in ensuring that all traffic is being properly inspected and that suspicious containers are detected and subjected to control. By participating in this mostly American program, the United Nations could ensure greater international coverage and could provide more resources at its disposal. Proliferation Security Initiative The Proliferation Security Initiative started in 2003; by 2005, 60 states were already party to the agreement. The participants seek to interdict sea or air shipments of weapons of mass destruction or their related materials to or by states of ‘proliferation concern’ trying to acquire or transfer such items. 194 Thanks to the multinational nature of the program, shipments can be interdicted not only at participating countries’ ports, but also in their national waters and airspace, and even on the high seas. According to press reports, the first interception under the PSI took place in 2003 when a Libya-bound cargo of a German ship, with thousands of parts for special centrifuges for enriching Harvard WorldMUN 2012 Disarmament and International Security 33 33
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Page 7 and 8: states on the international scene.
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Page 19 and 20: such as the structure of the ocean
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Page 29 and 30: induce subsequent reactions. This s
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