Appeal for stable nuclear security system

On June 27, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik called on the international community to establish a stable nuclear security system.

She said the opening signature of the NPT was "a milestone against the abuse of nuclear technology."

Nowadays, confronted with the aggravated concern on secret nuclear programs and the illegal nuclear trade, "a new international security architecture built on the solid foundation of the NPT" is needed, she said.

Plassnik added that the "current global arms race could extend to the nuclear field," saying threats against international peace and stability, brought by the abuse of nuclear technology, had almost surpassed all other dangers.

New nuclear disarmament body

In early June, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country has set up the Nuclear Non-proliferations and Disarmament Commission, a new body for nuclear disarmament, hoping to recruit "like-minded countries" to strengthen the NPT.

In a speech during his visit to Japan, he said the NPT was under great pressure, with some countries developing nuclear weapons outside its framework and others defying the international community and leaving the treaty altogether.

Rudd's government, which was elected last November, established the commission to examine how the NPT can be altered so that countries like India and Pakistan will join, analysts said.

One of the NPT's biggest flaws is that the treaty has limited power to enforce it, they said.

Inspections, carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency, are voluntary and countries largely control inspectors' movements.

Furthermore, there are no penalties for breaking the NPT, apart from being reported to the UN Security Council.

The Australian-proposed commission's chairman, former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans, even said the treaty might need to be replaced with a new pact that has more support.

However, Patricia McNerney, a US government expert on weapons proliferation, said Monday that while the United States wanted to be represented on the commission, she ruled out replacing the treaty.

"The US position is that the NPT is the cornerstone of our nonproliferation policy. We need to keep the NPT and strengthen it," McNerney, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, said during a visit to Australia.

"We wouldn't support trying to find an alternative because we think it would not be a viable, practical solution to today's challenges," she added.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2008)