The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is to discuss plans for the international management of the gateways to nuclear-weapons development -- activities related to uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. The debate follows a report submitted by a committee of experts to the board of governors, which opened its regular session in Vienna on Monday. The issue of inspections aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons is high on the agenda.
The report contains a variety of proposals that reflect the different concerns and interests of nuclear and nonnuclear states. Unifying these divergent plans may be extremely difficult, but all nations agree on one thing: The existing nuclear nonproliferation regime is falling apart. Their common duty, therefore, is to work out a unified plan for international management. At the same time, the nuclear states should renew their pledge to push nuclear disarmament at the next review meeting on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), scheduled for May in New York.
The report describes five possible plans that would vary in regulatory force -- from a government-to-government agreement based on market mechanisms to a powerful system of international management. Countries with a short history of nuclear energy development resist moves toward tighter regulation, citing the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Industrialized countries with long-standing nuclear energy programs are also reluctant to accept international inspections.