REVISING THE CONVENTION ON THE PHYSICAL PROTECTION OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL—CHAPTER V

This is the fifth paper in a series describing the international effort to revise the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) [1]. The first four, presented at the INMM 41st - 44th Annual Meetings, reported on progress in International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)- sponsored meetings held from November 1999 to March 2003 [2,3,4,5]. The paper for the 45th meeting will report on progress since the conclusion of the IAEA-sponsored meetings. The first two papers described the period from November 1999 to May 2001, when many IAEA Member States and CPPNM Parties participated in informal open-ended meetings considering the question of whether there was a need to amend the Convention [2,3]. The papers discussed the accomplishments of those meetings, including the recommendations for a “well-defined amendment” to the Convention and the convening of an Open-Ended Drafting Group of legal and technical experts to prepare an amendment proposal [3]. The third and fourth papers reviewed the work of the Drafting Group, which met six times between December 2001 and March 2003 [4,5]. Although the Drafting Group did not reach its goal of a consensus revision proposal that CPPNM Parties could take directly to a Diplomatic Conference of States Parties for adoption, the Final Report of the Drafting Group included a set of possible amendments to the CPPNM, many of which enjoyed consensus [6]. However, the Drafting Group could not resolve a number of difficult issues regarding other amendments, as discussed in the fourth paper [5]. Since March 2003, those issues and amendments and the path forward to a Diplomatic Conference have been addressed in the context of bilateral and multilateral consultations among States Parties, with the goal of achieving satisfactory resolution of all of the remaining issues prior to the Diplomatic Conference. If this goal is achieved, there can be confidence in successful adoption of an amendment proposal at a Diplomatic Conference, now anticipated to take place in early 2005. The fifth paper will provide a status report on the consultations and preview what remains to be done in preparation for the Diplomatic Conference.