IAEA to Weigh Strengthening Nuclear Laws
Jul 04 - VIENNA, Austria
Delegates from about 100 countries began work Monday to revamp an international treaty on protecting nuclear material, arguing existing laws fail to do enough to safeguard nuclear power plants from terrorism.
"We can't go on with an old instrument in a new world," the
conference chairman, Alec Jean Baer of Switzerland, said after the opening
session. He said the proposed changes to the Convention on the Physical
Protection of Nuclear Material would amount to an overhaul.
The existing treaty was signed in Vienna and New York in 1980, long before
the threat of terrorist nuclear attacks had become a pressing fear. It covers
the international transport of nuclear material used for peaceful purposes, as
well as some provisions on domestic storage and use.
After years of talks on amending the treaty, experts said it was time to
undertake the job. But so many changes are necessary, Baer said, that delegates
were essentially "tearing it (the treaty) down and building it up
again."
He likened the convention to an aging building that needed so much renovation
that only its outer skeleton could remain intact. For the measure to be updated
to meet the current threat, a "more modern ... of course, more
expensive" structure is needed, he said.
The changes under consideration by some 350 delegates would strengthen
existing law by establishing an international standard to protect nuclear
facilities from sabotage. The new changes also would call for cooperation
between countries to locate and recover stolen and smuggled material and to
combat such offenses.
Though experts have long worried nuclear plants and materials could be
targeted by terrorists, drawing up rules to protect them from such attacks has
taken time because the efforts cost money and require expertise some countries
don't have.
Baer had no estimate on how much each country will have to spend to conform
to the new rules, but it would be up to states to finance the necessary changes.
"The amendments now before this conference are vitally important and if
adopted, will take another significant step in reducing the vulnerability of
states, parties and indeed the entire world," David B. Waller, an IAEA
deputy director general, said in his opening remarks.
The session is not expected to produce instant results. Even if experts agree
to amend the treaty, the countries that have signed it will all have to ratify
the changes - a process that could take time.