The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was built from three pillars to achieve it objective to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons on world security, and to propagate share nuclear technology throughout the world. The three pillars are: nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy. There are currently 190 parties to the treaty, 5 of which are nuclear states. The parties of the treaty meet every five years to review the treaty and to discuss the future. The last meeting was in 2015 and attended by president Obama.
Disarmament
Among all of the countries in the world today, there are nine nuclear states, five of which are parties of the treaty. These five countries are: Russia, China, Great Britain, France, and the U.S. In the Article VI in the NPT, it says,
"Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control."
In the years after the the treaty was put into force, 1970, the two major parties, the US and USSR began talks focusing on ending the arms race and begin disarmament. However, the treaty did not stop the Nuclear Arms Race as both countries continued to stockpile weapons until the end of the Cold War. At that time, Russia had stockpiled 39,000 nukes; the U.S. had 20,000. From there, the two countries began to slash their arsenals, and today there are roughly 15,000 nukes in the entire world. Stronger efforts for disarmament have been made more recently, with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) presented in 1995 and in 2000, the NPT review conference laid out 13 practical steps for disarmament. However, the (CTBT) is yet to be put into power as it requires all countries with nuclear reactors to sign, and many countries including the US have yet to do so.
"Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control."
In the years after the the treaty was put into force, 1970, the two major parties, the US and USSR began talks focusing on ending the arms race and begin disarmament. However, the treaty did not stop the Nuclear Arms Race as both countries continued to stockpile weapons until the end of the Cold War. At that time, Russia had stockpiled 39,000 nukes; the U.S. had 20,000. From there, the two countries began to slash their arsenals, and today there are roughly 15,000 nukes in the entire world. Stronger efforts for disarmament have been made more recently, with the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) presented in 1995 and in 2000, the NPT review conference laid out 13 practical steps for disarmament. However, the (CTBT) is yet to be put into power as it requires all countries with nuclear reactors to sign, and many countries including the US have yet to do so.
Non-Proliferation
Nuclear Non-Proliferation means that non-nuclear states, should not endevor to become nuclear and nuclear states cannot spread nuclear weapon technology to non-nuclear states. The Non-Proliferation of all non-nuclear parties in the treaty is enforced by Article I and Article II of the NPT. In which, it states all nuclear-weapon parites cannot transfer nuclear weapons to any recipient or in any way to assist, encourage, or induce a non-nuclear-weapon state to acquire nuclear weapons. Also that non-nuclear parites cannot in any shape or form recieve nuclear weapons or otherwise endevor to obtain nuclear weapons.
In the years following the treaty, many of the countries pursuing nuclear weapons stopped upon signing the treaty. South Africa who had already obtained a functional nuclear weapon, stopped their weapons program and destroyed the few weapons they had upon signing the treaty. Similarly, Argentina and Brazil who were both beginning to develop a nuclear program, stopped upon signing the treaty. As of today, there are nine countries with nuclear capabilities. Based off the analysis of the Department of Defense in 1963, this number would have been more than 30 without the NPT. The counties that currently have nuclear capabilities are the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
In the years following the treaty, many of the countries pursuing nuclear weapons stopped upon signing the treaty. South Africa who had already obtained a functional nuclear weapon, stopped their weapons program and destroyed the few weapons they had upon signing the treaty. Similarly, Argentina and Brazil who were both beginning to develop a nuclear program, stopped upon signing the treaty. As of today, there are nine countries with nuclear capabilities. Based off the analysis of the Department of Defense in 1963, this number would have been more than 30 without the NPT. The counties that currently have nuclear capabilities are the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
Spread of Technology
One of the main goals of the NPT was to encourage the spread of nuclear energy without spreading nuclear weapons. To oversee this, Article III of the NPT states that all non-nuclear parties to the treaty should accept safeguards negotiated with the International Atomic Engergy Agency (IAEA), and be subject to the inspections conducted by the IAEA in order to ensure that they are not in violation of the treaty.
Typically, The IAEA does not have a lot of power to ensure that certain parties are not in violation. They have as they rarely demand truly pervasive inspections, and in the past, have mainly investigated places that are declared and open for inspection. Due to this lack of power, in the past, several countries were able to temporarily avoid the IAEA inspections including Iran and North Korea. However, the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea were exposed due to samplings of the environment of declared sites that led to suspiscion, but conclusive evidence only resulted from far more pervasive investigations than previously required from the treaty. Thus, there is now a new effort to strengthen the authority of the IAEA. As such, the IAEA has begun to revise the standards that it holds with other countries, however, as each country must be treated individually, the IAEA must undergo negotiations with each entity seperately. As of mid-2003, only around 20 percent of the parties of the NPT have renegotiated the treaty with the IAEA.
Typically, The IAEA does not have a lot of power to ensure that certain parties are not in violation. They have as they rarely demand truly pervasive inspections, and in the past, have mainly investigated places that are declared and open for inspection. Due to this lack of power, in the past, several countries were able to temporarily avoid the IAEA inspections including Iran and North Korea. However, the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea were exposed due to samplings of the environment of declared sites that led to suspiscion, but conclusive evidence only resulted from far more pervasive investigations than previously required from the treaty. Thus, there is now a new effort to strengthen the authority of the IAEA. As such, the IAEA has begun to revise the standards that it holds with other countries, however, as each country must be treated individually, the IAEA must undergo negotiations with each entity seperately. As of mid-2003, only around 20 percent of the parties of the NPT have renegotiated the treaty with the IAEA.