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(Proposed) Opposing New Nuclear Weapons and Saving the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

SUBMITTED BY: California Chapter 1

DATE: October 15, 2006

DISPOSITION:         

Whereas, nuclear weapons pose a grave threat to the health of children and other living things; and

Whereas, the United States currently maintains an arsenal of thousands of nuclear weapons, but is committed under Article VI of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to negotiate in good faith towards nuclear disarmament; and

Whereas, in spite of this commitment the U.S. government is developing plans for a new nuclear weapons production complex to produce a new generation of nuclear weapons beginning in about the year 2030 at a cost estimated by the General Accounting Office at about 150 billion of dollars; and

Whereas, the U.S. plans to invest in facilities for producing nuclear weapons decades from now undermines the credibility of the U.S. commitment to Article VI of NPT and hence undermines the NPT itself, thus increasing the likelihood of nuclear weapons proliferation and the chances of nuclear or radiologic weapons being used, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Academy call upon the United States government to abandon plans to develop and deploy new nuclear weapons, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the Academy call upon the United States government to explicitly reaffirm its commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty including nuclear disarmament.

REFER TO: 2007 Annual Leadership Forum

AUTHOR/CONTACT PERSON: Thomas Newman, MD, FAAP
Telephone: 415/514-8087 (CA)
Fax: 415/514-8150
Email: newman@epi.ucsf.edu

Additional Background information:

1.  Besides being vulnerable to blast and thermal injuries, children are particularly vulnerable to adverse effects of radiation from nuclear or radiological weapons, because of their greater minute ventilation and susceptibility to carcinogenesis.

2.  The US Nuclear Posture Review calls for reducing the number of "operationally deployed" nuclear warheads to 1700-2200 by 2012.  However, undeployed weapons would not be destroyed.

3.  Adherence to international treaties such as the NPT is required by the US Constitution, Article VI of which states in part : "This Constitution... and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound thereby... "

4.  The NPT came into force in 1970 and was originally negotiated with a term of 25 years.  At a review conference in 1995 it was indefinitely renewed, subject to a commitment to hold review conferences every 5 years, with an emphasis on monitoring progress towards nuclear disarmament.  At the 2000 review conference, all signatories including the US agreed upon 13 practical steps towards nuclear disarmament.  However, at the 2005 review conference, the US would not allow these even to be on the agenda.  Since the collapse of the 2005 NPT Review Conference, there has been concern about the nuclear weapons states backing away from their commitment to nuclear disarmament.  As Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency put it,"We have come to a fork in the road.  Either there must be a demonstrated commitment to move toward nuclear disarmament, or we should resign ourselves to the fact that other countries will pursue a more dangerous parity through proliferation."