Disarmament A

Committee: Disarmament Committee

Topic A: Recommendations for achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Director: Oziel Calvillo Gomez

Moderator: Jose Rios Torres

History of Disarmament:

It is he First Committee is one of six main committees at the General Assembly of the United Nations which deals with matters concerning world peace. The First Committee handles all matters on Disarmament and International Security.

The First Committee on Disarmament and International Security meets every year in October for a 4-5 weeks session, after the General Assembly General Debate. All 192 member states of the UN can attend.

Facts to know:

The Non-Proliferation Treaty: was signed in 1968 by 43 countries, and took effect in 1970. This treaty consists in the stop of the spreading on nuclear weapons. This treaty was made to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. There are currently 189 countries that agreed to the treaty, supposedly there are 5 countries that have nuclear weapons, this are the 5 members of the Security Council. Some of the countries in the world had have either refused to sign the treaty or have pursued nuclear weapons programs while not being members of the treaty. This is considerated as a threat to non-proliferation and world peace. These countries are:

· India

· Pakistan

· North Korea

Israel (non-declared)

The nuclear disarmament is the eradication of all nuclear weapons that are unauthorized. This is achieved by decreasing the radiation of the nuclear energy that is inside the bomb, causing it to transform in only a thermal bomb, and reducing many of the effects caused by radiation. The urge for nuclear disarmament was needed since the Cold War was still ongoing. Since then, many organizations have been founded to achieve this goal.

History of the topic:

Like stated before, the urge for nuclear disarmament was declared in need since the first days of the Cold War. This topic was declared of vital importance so peace could be achieved more quickly.

One of the first programs to face this problem, was the Partial Test Ban Treaty established in 1963, this is a treaty prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except underground. It was developed both to slow the arms race (nuclear testing was, back then, necessary for continued nuclear weapon advancements), and to stop the excessive release of nuclear fallout into the planet's atmosphere.

The most important treaty now-a-days, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Signed 1968, came into force 1970: An international treaty (currently with 189 member states) to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The treaty has three main pillars: nonproliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.

Another important treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). 1987: Created a global ban on short- and long-range nuclear weapons systems, as well as an intrusive verification regime.
One of the most important to the environment, but not yet in force, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) - signed 1996: The CTBT is an international treaty (currently with 181 state signatures and 148 state ratifications) that bans all nuclear explosions in all environments. While the treaty is not in force, Russia has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1990 and the United States has not since 1992.

The problems nuclear weapons bring in are:

A threat to peace: currently, the fact that some countries have pursued nuclear weapon programs beside the permanent members of the Security Council, is causing insecurity about world peace, also, the nuclear weapon tests are causing uproar. The current wars can also be a threat to peace, because nuclear weapons can be released anytime.

Environmental effects: Today, the nuclear radiation of nuclear test is having a great impact on the environment. The production of nuclear weapons has polluted lots of soil and water at hundreds of nuclear weapons facilities around the world. Many of the substances released are extremely dangerous because some of these substances are highly radioactive together and they can cause mutations and cancer. Also, those regions affected will prevail in that way for maybe hundreds or thousands of years.

In the manufacturing and testing of weapons some materials get to leak out of the plant. And all the activities involving weapons and testing have been awfully destructive for the environment. Even the nuclear weapons underground testing does not avoid the atmosphere pollution and underground tests have contaminated the soil and groundwater. A lot of land and soil in the US and Russia has been contaminated because of this. And also the Irish Sea down the Arctic Ocean has been poisoned too.

In Russia there are nuclear submarines, some still armed with nuclear bombs or weapons under the Murmansk Sea. And rivers also have been polluted because of the holding of large quantities of highly radioactive material. In 1957 a nuclear waste storage tank at the Chelyabinsk nuclear weapons site in Russia exploded and a radioactive cloud dispersed over more than 200 square kilometres of an agricultural region containing several rivers and lakes. Most of the trees in the radioactive zone were killed or damaged.

And lots of the radioactive nuclear wastes were dropped at Lake Karachay, which is now the most contaminated body of water in the world.

The most environmental damage comes from the nuclear technology c from the two largest nuclear weapons countries, the United States and Russia. Countries with their nuclear testing and waste have been making mass pollution around the world (mostly Asia).

The effects of radiation and the risks of exposure: The primary effects of exposure or radiation are to cause an increased probability of cancer in later life, though very large doses delivered instantaneously can lead to radiation sickness and death.

The risks depend upon the dose received. The only evidence of radiation damage to exposed populations is from those receiving high doses of radiation. The experts’ opinion is made that low doses will result with a proportionally smaller effect since people live in a naturally radioactive world and people will adapt to this radioactive environment within the course of evolution. (It should be noted that effects on the human body of natural radiation and man made are exactly the same). But governments still warn their people not to live in areas which are practically close to areas where nuclear radiation is on a high or considerable level to damage someone’s health.

Points of view:

USA:

USA has several policies about nuclear weapons.

Reliable Replacement Warhead Program

Complex Transformation
Nuclear bunker buster

Missile Defense

The USA thinks this policies will reduce the need of nuclear disarmament by reducing and replacing it’s warheads, shrinking the USA’s nuclear weapons numbers, modify a bomb to penetrate trough soil and rock to hit underground bases so nuclear weapons won’t be so necessary, and the missile defend system, so USA and their allies keep protected using missiles. This will help to reduce nuclear disarmament.

France:
Disarmament and Commitments to Reduce Arsenal Size

· Legal obligation to pursue global disarmament under Article VI of the NPT

· Presumably disassembled 175 warheads associated with four systems removed from service.

Then-President Chirac's new nuclear plans for 1997-2002 announced in February 1996 resulted in dismantling several weapon systems

UK:
The UK doesn’t want to replace their Trident- nuclear weapons because it would be a waste of money and in the current crisis it doesn’t want to take anymore steps to replace them (this process could cost £76 billion and in the actual state of hte world it would be fatal for the world’s economy)

South Africa:
South Africa has already disarmed completely about the nuclear weapons and this is considered as a great step for nuclear disarmament.

Questions for the delegate:

-Has your country signed the NPT?

-Does your country have nuclear weapons?

-Has your country tested nuclear weapons or, has it been involved in nuclear weapons attacks?

-What does your country think of nuclear disarmament?

-Do your solutions involve the wasting of nuclear energy in general?

Bibliography:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_effects_of_nuclear_power

http://www.wslfweb.org/health.htm

http://www.motherearth.org/nuke/begin2.php#1

www.theiet.org/factfiles/energy/env-nuclear.cfm?type=pdf –

www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Nuclear+Power+and+Its+Enviromental+Effects+-9780894480225.html