South Korea considered setting up a nuclear power station with North Korea
South Korea says North Korea nuclear plant documents were ‘just an idea’ SEOUL (Reuters) By Hyonhee Shin 29 Jan 21, – South Korea’s energy ministry said on Sunday that documents about a potential plan to build a nuclear power plant in North Korea were meant to suggest an “idea” but this has never been pursued as an official project.
On Thursday, South Korean broadcaster SBS unveiled a prosecution indictment listing more than a dozen documents from the energy ministry that suggested a previously unknown project to set up a nuclear plant in North Korea.
This raised questions over whether South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in had sought any nuclear energy programme for North Korea as part of his drive to restart inter-Korean economic cooperation.
Many of the files were dated to May 2018, a month after Moon held his first summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Shin Hee-dong, spokesman of South Korea’s energy ministry, said the files were “internal documents” that were discussed only among ministry officials after the summit, as an idea to consider in the future when the two Koreas can potentially reopen economic exchanges. ……
The documents were among some 530 that the ministry had deleted to conceal that it had distorted feasibility studies to shut down a reactor in South Korea. Prosecutors last month indicted three officials on charges of violating the Criminal Act by damaging public records.
Some of the files were reportedly titled “A plan to build a nuclear plant in North Korea” and “Tasks for phased cooperation to establish electricity infrastructure in North Korea.”
Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Frances Kerry https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-politics-northkorea/south-korea-says-north-korea-nuclear-plant-documents-were-just-an-idea-idUSKBN2A00CG?il=0
Biden’s hawkish foreign policy could derail funds meant for health and the public good
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Biden’s Hawkish Foreign Policy Could Derail Moves to Fight Austerity, Sam Knight, Truthout, January 31, 2021 In his first days in office, President Joe Biden has signaled a willingness to disavow austerity policies and expand public benefits, sparking cautious optimism about whether his administration could succeed in minimizing damage done by the coronavirus pandemic. But Biden is at risk of repeating similar mistakes made by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who promised more relief to the poor than he could deliver because of his decision to escalate conflict in Vietnam…….. Today, President Biden is at risk of making comparable missteps. Though his plans to “build back better” are far less ambitious and coherent than LBJ’s “War on Poverty,” basic government action has the potential to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths and the immiseration of millions, given the ongoing health and economic crises. But while Biden has made moves on the recovery front that have given some cause for cautious optimism — most notably, by disavowing austerity — he isn’t doing all he can to foreclose on the possibility of the U.S. military stirring up trouble all over the world, in developments that would likely derail his domestic agenda. On two major fronts, Biden represents a clear improvement over Donald Trump: The newly inaugurated president, like his predecessor, will attempt to make overtures to Cuba and Iran. …….. …. Biden has also shown some promise by declaring that the U.S. will cease its support for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen, even if his declaration was vague and unconvincing. But in almost every other regard, the benefits of the Biden administration’s foreign policy are much less obvious, and could leave the U.S. wreaking havoc on every continent in the world except Antarctica. With respect to South America, the president is doing little to change course on a Venezuela regime change policy……. Regime change is also critical to the Biden administration’s policy toward Syria…… On the other side of Asia, there are also worrying signs. Blinken said during his confirmation hearing that, “Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China.” Biden himself has taken things further: He accused his predecessor of being “soft” on China, and vowed to “pressure, isolate and punish” the country. Biden did not specify his reasons, but nationalistic Americans have been salivating at the thought of “punishing” China in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins in Wuhan. ………. With respect to Russia, the other great power that the ruling class loves to cite as a bogeyman, Biden is also aiming to be the tough guy. As vice president, he clashed with President Obama over his former boss’s refusal to send lethal military aid to the Ukrainian government after the start of its struggle with Russian-backed separatists in 2014. According to Biden’s memoir, Obama shot down rallying cries from his number two by replying: “We’re not going to send in the Eighty-second Airborne, Joe.” Biden is already earning himself gushing praise from Beltway think tank ladder-climbers for “confronting” Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call. Among the issues raised by Biden in the call was “Ukraine’s sovereignty,” according to the White House, though the stance is hardly principled. Biden is also continuing the Trump administration’s policy of recognizing Israel’s claims on Jerusalem as its capital, ignoring sovereign Palestinian claims on the city as its own capital and lending credibility to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which ramped up in 2018, when the Trump administration announced it would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Biden also has an eye on increasing U.S. involvement in Africa. French President Emmanuel Macron has already asked Biden to up U.S. participation in ongoing operations in West Africa, and the newly inaugurated president agreed to cooperate. ………. It would be tragic if Biden, like Johnson, promised more than he could deliver to constituents who are suffering most because of a misplaced belief that the U.S. military and the State Department are interested in and capable of liberating people around the world. https://truthout.org/articles/bidens-hawkish-foreign-policy-could-derail-moves-to-fight-austerity/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=6429be5f-09ac-4f98-a93e-0e009acc775e |
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All-Africa Conference of Churches welcomes Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty
All-Africa Conference of Churches welcomes Nuclear 
Prohibition Treaty https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2021-01/aacc-treaty-nuclear-weapon-proliferation-africa-church.htmlThe All-Africa Conference of Churches salutes the recent coming into force of the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), hailing it as further inspiration to work for a nuclear-weapons-free world.
Hailing this recent development, the All-Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), in a statement on Tuesday, expressed its support, together with the rest of the ecumenical community, for the Treaty which now becomes international law.
The ecumenical body said that the Treaty “ushers in the possibilities of heralding a new world free of the threats and tensions that have been characterized by the battle to develop and hold nuclear weapons.”
No safe hands for nuclear weapons
In the Tuesday statement, AACC stated its belief “that the very holding and potential threat of use of nuclear weapons is immoral,” adding that it looks forward to the day “when the world will be freed of these weapons permanently.”
“There are no safe hands for these weapons,” added AACC. “The accidental or deliberate detonation of a nuclear weapon would cause severe, long-lasting and far-reaching harm on all aspects of our lives and our environment throughout the world.”
At the same time, these technologies are “part of structures and systems that bring about great suffering and destruction” and have been the cause of “major tensions and threats of widespread devastation.”
TPNW: inspiration for a nuclear-weapon-free world
In the wake of the entry into force of the Treaty, AACC said that at a time when the world desperately needs fresh hope, the TPNW inspires us to work towards fully eliminating “the threat of nuclear weapons, and to create conditions for peace, justice and well-being.”
AACC also pointed out that the treaty addresses the disproportionate impact of nuclear weapons on women and indigenous peoples, as well as the “importance of victim assistance and healing environmental harms in a groundbreaking way.”
Citing the example of the hibakusha – survivors of the two nuclear attacks launched at Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II – AACC noted that their courage and perseverance serve as “the inspiration, guidance and moral foundation” in the quest for a world without nuclear weapons.
Appeal to States
Highlighting that none of the nine nuclear global powers, and many countries with defense pacts with them have signed or ratified the Treaty, AACC pointed out that a lot of work still remains to be done. As at its entry into force, the TPNW was signed by 86 countries and ratified by 51.
n this regard, AACC appealed to the ecumenical global community to make its contribution, in whichever way possible, to participate in the global work for peace, justice and respect for life.
Concretely, the ecumenical body is urging all States to sign and ratify the TPNW, as well as join the first meeting of the State parties scheduled for next year. AACC further calls for decisive action “to strengthen the power of the TPNW upon its entry into force, and to work for peace, cooperation and common security.”
“We must not be discouraged at the slow pace, but become even more determined to push for a better world,” AACC said. “This is part of our mission and we know God is on our side.”
AACC
Founded in Kampala, Uganda, in 1963, the AAAC is an ecumenical association that today has 173 member churches present in 40 African countries, representing over 120 million Christians on the continent. Its headquarters is in Nairobi, Kenya.
Russia extends key New START nuclear treaty
Russia extends key New START nuclear treaty, DW, 29 Jan 21, With only days to spare, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on the law that would keep the Obama-era nuclear treaty in place. The move follows a phone call with US President Joe Biden.
Moscow agreed to extend the only remaining nuclear arms treaty with the United States for another five years, with Russian President Vladimir Putin signing the move into law on Friday. The decision was previously approved by Russian lawmakers.
The New START treaty limits the number of deployed nuclear warheads for both the US and Russia. Both sides can only have up to 1,550 ready for use on intercontinental missiles and heavy bomber bases. It also imposes various other restrictions on the two countries’ respective arsenals. According to US data cited by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists last year, the US had 1,373 deployed warheads to Russia’s 1,326. The deal was set to expire next week.
Putin talked to US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, with the two leaders agreeing to keep the New START in place. The US does not require congressional approval to extend the deal. …………
No more ‘Open Skies’ for US and Russia
Last November, the Trump administration said it was pulling the US out of the “Open Skies” treaty. The accord, which involves 34 states, is a trust-building measure that allows countries to fly unarmed aircraft over military facilities of other signatories for surveillance purposes. Earlier this month, Moscow said they would also abandon the deal.
With Biden taking the reigns in the White House last week, the climate seems to be shifting. Both sides have recently signaled they are willing to work on arms control, including non-nuclear threats. https://www.dw.com/en/russia-extends-key-new-start-nuclear-treaty/a-56388218
Iran rejects reversing nuclear steps before US lifts sanctions
Iran rejects reversing nuclear steps before US lifts sanctions, Aljazeera, 28 Jan 21,
Foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran could reverse breaches of nuclear deal once US sanctions are removed.
Iran will not accept demands by the United States that it reverses acceleration of its nuclear programme before Washington lifts sanctions, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
The demand “is not practical and will not happen”, he said at a joint news conference in Istanbul on Friday with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The new administration of US President Joe Biden has said Tehran must resume compliance with curbs on its nuclear activity under the world powers’ 2015 deal before it can rejoin the pact formally known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iran breached the terms of the accord in a step-by-step response to the decision by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump to abandon the deal in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Tehran.
Earlier this month, Iran resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent at its underground Fordow nuclear plant – a level it achieved before the accord.
However, Iran has said it can quickly reverse those violations if US sanctions are removed…… https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/29/iran-rejects-reversing-nuclear-steps-before-us-lifts-sanctions
Anxiety in Czech Republic about nuclear supplies from China, or from Russia
government and the leaders of the opposition parties agreed on January 27.
political parties China is an unimaginable main supplier. “Basically, we
all believe that China is an unimaginable potential supplier to us in the
tender.
of a certain part of politicians who would like to exclude Russia [from a
tender, too], while another part wants to keep it there,” minister said.
said chairman of Mayors and Independents Vit Rakusan. The state has been
also considering financing the construction of a new nuclear power plant in
Dukovany on its own, in case involvement of the state-owned energy company
CEZ would be too expensive.
Biden to name Obama’s former adviser, Robert Malley, as envoy for Iran
Guardian 29th Jan 2021, The Biden administration is expected name Robert Malley, a former top adviser in the Obama administration, as special envoy for Iran, according
to multiple sources. Malley was a key member of former Barack Obama’s
team that negotiated the nuclear accord with Iran and world powers, an
agreement that Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 in the face of strong
opposition from Washington’s European allies.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/29/iran-deal-architect-robert-malley-biden-appoint
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal will test Joe Biden
Reviving the Iran nuclear deal will test Joe Biden, Tehran says the ball is in America’s court, but Washington first wants compliance, Ft.com, DAVID GARDNER, 27 Jan 21,
US president Joe Biden’s incoming foreign policy team, full of veterans from the Barack Obama administrations, will have no illusions about how tricky it will be to refloat the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was torpedoed by Donald Trump in 2018. They know from direct experience how canny Iranian negotiators are — and how antagonistic relations have become with the Islamic Republic. ………
Buddhist leader urges international co-operation in further steps on the Nuclear Ban Treaty
Buddhist Leader Welcomes Entry into Force of Nuclear Ban Treaty, Urges 
International Cooperation to CombatPandemic in 39th Annual Peace Proposal, Soka Gakkai , Jan 26, 2021, TOKYO, Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On January 26, 2021, the 39th annual peace proposal by Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist association, titled “Value Creation in a Time of Crisis” was released, marking the anniversary of the founding of the SGI.
Ikeda calls for further global cooperation to address the key issues of our time: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons. These issues are not constrained by national borders and cannot be solved by any one government or organization alone……….
Consistent with his decades of action toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, Ikeda welcomes the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force on January 22, 2021, as a “pivotal event ushering in a new era” that will spur a paradigm shift in approaches to security. He calls on Japan to participate in the first meeting of the States Parties to the TPNW, to begin to create the conditions in which future ratification can become possible.
He proposes that a forum for discussing the relationship between nuclear weapons and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) be held during the first meeting of States Parties to the TPNW.
At the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference scheduled for August 2021, Ikeda also urges discussion on the true meaning of security in the light of crises such as the climate emergency and the pandemic.
He calls for the final document of the Review Conference to include a pledge of non-use of nuclear weapons and the freezing of all nuclear weapon development until 2025.
A statement from Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada welcoming the entry into force of the TPNW issued on January 22 can be found at: https://www.sokaglobal.org/contact-us/media-room/statements/tpnw-entry-into-force.html. The SGI has also cosigned an interfaith statement together with more than 170 other religious groups. See: https://sgi-ouna.org/tpnw-eif-interfaith-statement ………..https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/buddhist-leader-welcomes-entry-into-force-of-nuclear-ban-treaty-urges-international-cooperation-to-combat-pandemic-in-39th-annual-peace-proposal-301214677.html
Russia and USA exchange documents to extend the NEW START nuclear weapons agreement
Russia, US Exchange Documents to Extend Nuclear Pact
The Kremlin says Russia and the United States have exchanged documents to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control pact days before it is set to expire. U.S. News, BY VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press, MOSCOW (AP) 26 Jan 21 — Russia and the United States traded documents Tuesday to extend their last remaining nuclear arms control treaty days before it is due to expire, the Kremlin said.
A Kremlin readout of a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the two leaders voiced satisfaction with the exchange of diplomatic notes about extending the New START treaty.
“In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning of this important international legal nuclear arms control tool,” the Kremlin said.
The pact’s extension doesn’t require congressional approval in the U.S., but Russian lawmakers must ratify the move. Top members of the Kremlin-controlled parliament said they would fast-track the issue and complete the necessary steps to extend the treaty this week.
New START expires on Feb. 5. After taking office last week, Biden proposed extending the treaty for five years, and the Kremlin quickly welcomed the offer………. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-01-26/russia-diplomat-hails-progress-in-nuclear-pact-talks-with-us
Biden’s USA headed for confrontation with Russia? The troubling appointment of Victoria Nuland
Nuland’s actions helped produce the regime change in Ukraine which led to U.S. arms sales, U.S. sanctions on Russia, even the first Trump impeachment over the matter of anti-tank missile delivery. The coup damaged U.S.-Russian relations
Basic Notes on Victoria (“Fuck the EU!”) Nuland, more https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/01/25/basic-notes-on-victoria-fuck-the-eu-nuland/ BY GARY LEUPP, 25 Jan 21
On January 5 Joe Biden quietly announced the nomination of Victoria (“Fuck the EU!”) Nuland as Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs. This announcement may signal the inception of the confrontation with Russia placed on hold during the Trump presidency.
For four years the Democrats have pilloried Trump for “coddling” Putin, although in fact Trump has heaped sanctions on Russia bringing relations to their lowest point since the early Cold War. Now they want some more serious anti-Russian measures. They want their president, Commander-in-Chief of the Exceptional Nation and Leader of the Free World against its adversaries, return us to Clinton-Obama normalcy. That means “getting tougher” with Russia. But what does tougher mean?
Nuland is eminently qualified for the task of making things much worse, even provoking war with the other superpower that while lacking foreign bases, and spending a fraction of what NATO spends on military defense, has over 6000 nuclear weapons. (Remember? The U.S. developed and used nuclear weapons in 1945, the only country to ever do so. The Soviets followed by developing their own bomb in 1949, in self-defense. That’s when Truman established NATO as an anti-Soviet, anti-communist military alliance.)
Moscow feels a mounting resentment over the expansion of a hostile military alliance, formed during the Cold War under conditions no longer pertinent, to surround it. Is this hard to fathom? How would Congress view a gradual expansion of a Russian-led military alliance committed to spending 2% of its members’ GDPs on military spending to embrace Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama and maybe Canada next year?
Nuland is a career official, serving under multiple administrations, representing bipartisan imperialism. She was deputy director for “affairs in the former Soviet republics” in the Bill Clinton administration. Her task was to exploit the pain and suffering caused by the implosion of the Soviet Union to assert greater U.S. hegemony over Eurasia, using the traditional mix of covert operations, National Endowment for Democracy meddling, “color revolutions,” aid promises, etc.
During this period Clinton reneged on the U.S. promise to Moscow in 1989 that NATO would not advance “one inch” east after the Soviets accepted German reunification. Instead he drew Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, long members of the dissolved Warsaw Pact, into the anti-Russian military alliance in 1999. It was an extraordinary repudiation of the Bush-Gorbachev agreement, an egregious provocation of a now-friendly country (then headed by the buffoonish Boris Yeltsin), unremarked on by the U.S. press at the time as anything controversial. Since then the expansion of NATO has been treated as no more remarkable than the expansion of UNESCO. Thank Nuland in part for making you think relentless NATO growth is normal, and that it makes sense for North Macedonia and Montenegro to have joined most recently (during the Trump term).
Thank Nuland too, in part, for the “color revolutions” in Serbia (2000), Georgia (2003), Ukraine (2004) and Kyrgyzstan (2005). The (fake) concept of the popular uprising against (Russian-backed) tyranny, backed by an altruistic America that stands for Freedom and Democracy—that’s Nuland’s baby. She surely has plans for Belarus. And she must be deeply alarmed that the State Department did not try to interfere in the last flare-up of violence in Nagarno-Karabakh leaving Russian diplomacy to resolve the situation. (Just because Russia itself extends into the Caucasus and borders Georgia and Azerbaijan doesn’t mean that it should “interfere” in countries that ought by rights to be ruled by the U.S.A.—due to Exceptionalism and all.)
The extremely reactionary chauvinistic Nuland was deputy foreign advisor to Dick Cheney during the Bush-Cheney administration (2003-2005) and then U.S. ambassador to NATO (2005-2008). Under Obama she was Under Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, handpicked by Hillary Clinton. She is married to noted neocon warmonger-scholar Robert Kagan. Both were deeply complicit in spreading the Big Lies leading to the Iraq War in 2003. Nuland supported Hillary Clinton’s terroristic regime change efforts in Libya and Syria. But her main mission in life is to expand NATO. Joe Biden shares her passion for this project.
Nuland is perhaps best known for her pithy ejaculation: “Fuck the EU!” in a telephone call with the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine in 2014.
In that year, while Nuland built support for the coup in Kiev (Feb. 18 to 21), she boasted openly that the U.S. had invested $5 billion in supporting “the Ukrainian people’s European aspirations.” (This referred to the support of some Ukrainians for the violent overthrow of the democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, on the basis of his alleged pro-Russian policies and his opposition to European Union affiliation under the conditions the EU was then offering.) To state the matter honestly: the U.S. spent $5 billion to install a government in Kiev that would request NATO membership (ostensibly to protect it from always-aggressive, always expanding Russia) and bind it forever to the U.S. military-industrial complex and “Free World.”
Since NATO membership since the end of the Cold War has invariably been followed by EU membership, it was easy for Nuland to pose as the champion of Ukraine’s EU membership versus the evil Russians (supposedly) opposing that membership. Yanukovych himself had negotiated seriously with the EU but rejected a plan for association due to its austerity provisions. Meanwhile Moscow offered an attractive aid package. This in the world of U.S. propaganda was a choice between Europe and Russia, with Yanukovych siding with America’s adversary.
The Maidan coup occurred just a month after Nuland was recorded discussing the upcoming event with U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. Nuland, who had joined Sen. John McCain and other U.S. politicians in offering cookies to the Maidan protestors, discussed with Pyatt who should serve as prime minister after the coup. Pyatt noted that the EU favored Vitali Klitschko, the ex-boxer.
“Fuck the EU!” replied Nuland, who wanted banker and NATO supporter Arseniy Yatsenyuk to lead the new government. She soon got her way.
Nuland worked with Oleh Tyahnybok, head of the neo-Nazi Svoboda Party (and one of the three leaders Nuland ordered Pyatt to keep in touch with) and the Right Sector militia. Both glorify Stephan Bandera, the Ukrainian fascist leader who aided the Nazis in rounding up Ukrainian Jews during the war. Tyahnybok publicly inveighs against the “Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling Ukraine.”
When Congressman Dana Rohrbacher Nuland in a hearing was asked soon after the coup whether there had been any neo-fascists on the Maidan she refused to answer the question, stating there were “mothers, grandmothers, and veterans…all colors of Ukraine, including ugly colors” on the Maidan. In other words, a diverse anti-Russian crowd. (Notice how she ignored the existence of the 30% of Ukrainians who are ethnic Russians and were a support base for the president targeted for toppling. Just the sort of sensitivity to ethnicity you’d expect from a top U.S. State Department official who’d been comfortable with the slaughter of Iraqis.) Continue reading
Iran urges Biden to make haste to rejoin the nuclear deal
Iran warns Biden over nuclear deal, Canberra Times Nasser Karimi 26 Jan 21, Iran has warned the Biden administration it will not have an indefinite time period to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
Iran also said it expects Washington to swiftly lift crippling economic sanctions that Donald Trump imposed after pulling America out of the atomic accord in 2018, as part of what he called maximum pressure against Tehran.
Biden has pledged to return to the nuclear deal, but Iran’s cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei said there has yet to be any communication between the two sides on the subject……..https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7101356/iran-warns-biden-over-nuclear-deal/?cs=14264
Nuclear Ban Treaty obligates countries to assist nuclear victims and remediate environments
Policy Approaches Addressing the Ongoing Humanitarian and Environmental Consequences of Nuclear Weapons: A Commentary, Wiley Online Library Nate Van Duzer Alicia Sanders‐Zakre 20 January 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12870
Abstract
The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) not only bans nuclear weapons, it obligates its states parties to engage in assisting victims and remediating contaminated environments (Articles 6 and 7). As states and civil society consider the best methods to implement these provisions, it is important to take stock and review existing policy approaches addressing the ongoing humanitarian and environmental consequences of nuclear weapons. This practitioner commentary, written by members of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its advocacy for the TPNW, reviews existing programs of victim assistance and environmental remediation. It highlights key considerations for policy makers seeking to improve on the existing mechanisms.
……….. Key takeaways
Dozens of identified sites around the world remain contaminated by nuclear weapons use, production and testing, and there is no one standard for their remediation. Notably, there is no widely accepted standard to determine how clean is clean, or how to monitor radiation levels over time. Speed and thoroughness of cleanup vary widely as well, and the cost to remediate each site ranges from millions of US$ to billions. Even remediated sites are often still somewhat closed to the public. The nuclear‐armed states have historically done the most to direct and carry out the cleanup of sites, even if the test site is not under those states’ jurisdiction. However, nuclear‐armed states do not always respond to local requests for action. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12870
5 nuclear activities that are now Illegal under international law
Here are five examples of the type of activities that will be Illegal under international law on 22 January 2021 https://nukewatch.org/new-and-updated-item/here-are-five-examples-of-the-type-of-activities-that-will-be-illegal-under-international-law-on-22-january-2021/
One of the main problems with talking about nuclear weapons is that it often becomes abstract and hypothetical. Most people barely know which countries have nuclear weapons and do not know to what extent other actors are involved in maintaining and upholding nuclear weapons.
WHAT THE TREATY PROHIBITS
Article 1 of the treaty prohibits states parties from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities.
#1: THE TREATY BANS THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW NUCLEAR WEAPONS SYSTEMS
Right now, all nuclear armed states are quantitatively or qualitatively advancing their nuclear arsenals, to the tune of nearly $73 billion in 2019 alone. Developing nuclear weapons is banned for states parties in Article 1(a) of the treaty. So activities like India’s Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile? Banned under international law. Pakistan’s Babur-3 submarine-launched ballistic missile? Banned under international law. North Korea’s’ growing nuclear warhead arsenal? Banned under international law. Nuclear-armed states may not be legally obligated to comply with a treaty they haven’t joined. But their behavior contradicts this new instrument of international law and the growing norm it represents.
#2: THE TREATY BANS ASSISTING WITH DEVELOPING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Dozens of U.S. universities are involved in the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, including through direct management and research partnerships with the laboratories that design and can produce nuclear weapons components. The University of California, Texas A&M University, Johns Hopkins University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Rochester receive billions in contracts to directly manage laboratories that work on nuclear weapons. The University of California and Texas A&M University are both operators of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which provides design and engineering for several nuclear warhead types, conducts simulated experiments to evaluate warheads, and has the capacity to produce plutonium pits, the core material for nuclear warheads. An average-sized U.S. nuclear weapon, that could be designed and developed at Los Alamos overseen by the University of California and Texas A&M University, detonated over the center of Paris would immediately kill over 500,000 civilians, and injure more than one million, causing third-degree burns all the way out to the suburbs.
From 22 January 2021, these universities, and others that are participating in the development and production of nuclear weapons, are carrying out activities that are banned under international law. Students should demand their universities focus on research to save lives, not end them.
#3: THE TREATY BANS THE HOSTING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Article 1(g) of the TPNW explicitly prohibits allowing the stationing, installation or deployment of nuclear weapons.
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There are five countries in the world that are currently engaged in this soon to be banned behaviour: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey.These five countries currently host collectively about 150 U.S. nuclear weapons at bases on their territory. The fact is, there are likely more nuclear weapons in Italy than in North Korea. Not only does the continued hosting of U.S. nuclear weapons run contrary to international law, it also flies in the face of public opinion. Less than one-third of the public in most nuclear hosting states support the continued existence of weapons of mass destruction on their soil. A recent poll in Belgium shows that 77% of Belgians want their government to join the TPNW. #4: THE TREATY BANS THE MANUFACTURING OF NUCLEAR WEAPONSEven outside of nuclear-armed states companies contribute to the development and production of nuclear weapons. Belarus’ Minsk Automotive Factory manufactures mobile launchers for a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile. The multinational Airbus Group, headquartered in the Netherlands, contributes through a German-headquarted subdivision to the development and production of the French submarine-launched ballistic missiles. These companies are engaging in activities outlawed under international law. There is a growing trend for financial institutions to divest from companies producing weapons banned under international law. If these companies do not choose to adhere to the new norm on nuclear weapons, they may pay the price. #5: THE TREATY BANS ENCOURAGING THE USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONSNuclear-armed states are always ready to use nuclear weapons. They regularly prepare to use nuclear weapons through joint exercises, where many states contribute to nuclear attack exercises. One example is the annual NATO Steadfast Noon nuclear exercise. Non-nuclear-armed states that participate in these mass murder trial runs would be acting contrary to Article 1(e), the prohibition against encouraging prohibited behaviour. This year, countries like the Czech Republic and Poland contributed conventional aircraft to the Steadfast Noon nuclear strike exercise – something that will be illegal under international law when the TPNW enters into force. CONCLUSIONThe entry into force of the TPNW is the perfect opportunity for all countries, companies, universities and other entities to re-evaluate their relationship to this new international legal standard. Countries producing or hosting nuclear weapons or participating in nuclear strike exercises, as well as the companies manufacturing them and universities helping to design them are acting against international law. All entities should end these illegal activities and join the international community in renouncing nuclear weapons entirely. When the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force on 22 January 2021, that will need to change. |
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Arab League hails passing of Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Arab League hails passing of Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Business Standard, 24 Jan 21, The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in July 2017 and was opened for signature in September 2017
The Arab League has welcomed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty’s coming into force and urged for intensifying international efforts to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.
In a statement on Friday, AL Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit descibed the move as an important step towards the disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in the world, reports Xinhua news agency.
He explained that the Arab countries were supportive of international efforts during the negotiation process for this treaty, “despite Israel’s boycott of this path as an extension of its anti-nuclear disarmament policies and its stances opposing international efforts aimed at getting rid of nuclear weapons, especially in the Middle East”.
“It is time to intensify efforts to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, which is fully consistent with the objectives of this treaty,” the AL chief said… https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/arab-league-hails-passing-of-treaty-on-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons-121012300306_1.html
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