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Nuclear Weapons
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| Date |
Theme |
Speakers |
29 May
2009
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Dangerous Legacies: Dealing with Nuclear Waste Disposal in the Central Asian Region
Over 100 million tons of radioactive waste is held in uranium storage depots in the Central Asian republics of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, according to a report by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. In Kyrgyzstan alone, nuclear waste left over from the nuclear activities of the former Soviet Union occupies 92 sites scattered across the country, in the vicinity of human settlements. These highly-toxic dumps have exposed about 6,500 hectares of Kyrgyz land to radioactive contamination.
The Kyrgyz problem is far from being only a national issue. The environmental, human, and global security risks of decaying, unprotected, and unguarded nuclear waste dumps make the Central Asian situation one of global concern. While the proximity of the Kyrgyz waste depots to water sources makes the rapid contamination of the region a potential for environmental disaster, the availability of unsecured deadly radioactive substances stands out as a global security threat. What is the international community doing to manage these health, environmental, and security risks, and what else should it be doing?
This seminar focused on the technical, financial, and political implications of nuclear waste disposal, with a particular focus on the extent and characteristics of the problem in the Central Asian region.
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Chair:
Keith Krause, Director, Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding of the Graduate Institute
Speakers:
Peter Waggitt, Consultant, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna
Amb. Muktar Djumalev, Permanent Mission of Kyrgyzstan to the United Nations (Geneva)
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20 May
2009
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Getting to Zero: Options and Challenges for a Nuclear-Free World
On 1 April 2009, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev pledged to “commit [the] two countries to achieving a nuclear free world.” Four days later, in Prague, Obama reiterated, perhaps strengthened, the message, starting from the observation that “the existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War.”
These statements did not come in a void. They were inserted in a mosaic of sparse yet increasing calls for serious action in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation whose ultimate, ambitious goal is ‘to bring the world to zero.’ But how can such an ambitious goal be translated into concrete, realistic action? What can ensure that the numerous, current plans for abolition do not remain empty declarations of good intentions?
This lunchtime seminar focused on the challenges and opportunities for a nuclear-free world, with a presentation by Michael Krepon, co-founder of the Henry L. Stimson Centre and author of the recently published book “Better Safe than Sorry: The Ironies of Living with the Bomb” (2009).
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Chair:
Theresa Hitchens, Director, UNIDIR
Speaker:
Michael Krepon, Henry L. Stimson Centre
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19
March
2007
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Verifying Compliance with the Nuclear Test Ban: 10 Years of the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has the most advanced
and extensive verification regime ever created. 2007 marks the
10th anniversary of the Provisional Technical Secretariat of
the CTBTO Preparatory Commission which is tasked with building
up this
system of verification. The event in the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea on 9 October 2006 presented the system with
a real-life test case. Although it is not yet complete and working
in test-mode only, the verification system provided States Signatories
to the Treaty with reliable and high quality data on the event.
This seminar discussed the 9 October 2006 event
from a technical point of view, as well as explored the role
of the verification
regime in general, its accomplishments and the challenges it faces.
The presentations were followed by discussion.
|
Mr.
Tibor Tóth
Executive Secretary, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation
(CTBTO)
H.E. Mr. Sha Zukang
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations
Dr. Patricia Lewis
Director, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
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| 14 March 2006 |
Supporting
Focused, Structured Debate in the Conference on Disarmament: Civil
Society input on Nuclear Disarmament and a Treaty on Fissile Materials
Organised jointly with Greenpeace International
This lunchtime seminar was designed to contribute NGO input and
stimulus to the focused, structured debate underway in the Conference
on Disarmament. It was specifically designed to contribute (1)
to the substantive discussions on nuclear disarmament during the
Presidency of the Republic of Korea and (2) to the substantive
discussions on a Treaty on Fissile Materials during the Presidency
of Romania.
The following documents were presented and discussed at the meeting:
Greenpeace Model
Comprehensive Fissile Materials Treaty;
Legal Framework
for Non-Use and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
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H.E. Mr. Johannes C. Landman
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the Conference
on Disarmament
Mr. Shaun Burnie
Fissile Material Expert, Greenpeace International
Ms. Felicity Hill
Political Adviser, Greenpeace International
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| 1
May 2003
Report
available |
The
Nuclear Issue Post Iraq
The Linus Pauling
Centennial Award for Science, Peace or Health was established in
2001 in honour of Linus Pauling (1901-1994) and is dedicated to
the recognition of outstanding achievement by an individual or organization
in a subject of interest to Linus Pauling. At this seminar, Dr.
Linus Pauling Jr. presented the 2002 award to Sir Joseph Rotblat
"for groundbreaking research in nuclear medicine; for courageous
efforts to educate the people of the world of the perils of nuclear
war and the imperative need to achieve nuclear disarmament and to
organize and stimulate the scientists of the world to recognize
their responsibilities created by technological achievement and
to assist in the development of mechanisms for reduction of nuclear
threat and elimination of nuclear arms and war".
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Sir
Joseph Rotblat,
Emeritus President, Pugwash Conferences
on Science and World Affairs; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 1995.
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| 29 January
1997 |
The Future
of NPT: Ideas for the New Review
The seminar was organized
in view of the then forthcoming opening Preparatory Committee meeting
for the NPT review process which was scheduled for 7-18 April 1997.
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Mr.
Peter Goosen, Minister, Mission of South Africa, Geneva.
Mr. John Simpson,
Programme for Promoting Nuclear Non-Proliferation, University
of Southampton,
UK.
Ms. Rebecca Johnson,
Disarmament Intelligence Review.
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