The 2005 review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which opened May 2 at U.N. headquarters in New York, remains in limbo, although the agenda has finally been agreed.
The abnormal situation reflects deep-rooted discord between nuclear and nonnuclear nations. The problem is complicated by North Korea's withdrawal from the NPT and subsequent acknowledgment that it possesses nuclear arms; Iran's nuclear-arms development; the growing threat of nuclear terrorism; and a proposal to tighten restrictions on peaceful uses of atomic energy to eliminate "loopholes" for developing nuclear weapons.
At the root of the conflict is a landmark agreement worked out at the 2000 NPT review conference. Included were 13 points of agreement that established clear guidelines for abolishing nuclear arms. It called for early implementation of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (yet unratified by the United States and China); a moratorium on nuclear tests; and immediate negotiations on a treaty designed to ban the production of weapons-grade fissile materials.