The 189 countries that have signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) have committed themselves to nuclear disarmament, the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Every five years, the parties to the treaty meet to discuss compliance issues.

‘We need stricter controls in order to ascertain whether nuclear activities are peaceful,’ said Mr Verhagen. ‘If this is not the case, the international community must take decisive action and immediately stop any nuclear cooperation with the violator.’

The Netherlands is pleased that the two largest nuclear-weapon states – Russia and the United States – have agreed to reduce their number of long-range weapons by a third. At Mr Verhagen’s urging, the NATO countries will also discuss the reduction of short- and medium-range weapons in Europe in the months ahead.

The Netherlands also advocates reinforcing the non-proliferation regime. ‘The treaty is more important than ever,’ said the minister. ‘The more countries that possess nuclear weapons, the greater the risks. The time that nuclear weapons made the world a more stable place is over. This is why the Netherlands supports a world free of nuclear weapons, and why we take an active role in pursuing this goal.’

Because countries are entitled to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the NPT, the Netherlands is in favour of international centres for the production of nuclear fuel. Countries would be able to order nuclear fuel from these ‘uranium banks’, which would be under the strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

As the minister argued, ‘This way we can ensure that enrichment technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons does not circulate freely, while simultaneously providing countries with a secure source for fuel for their nuclear power plants.’ Urenco in the Netherlands could be one such centre.

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