Specific concern was expressed about both the environmental and proliferation risks of plutonium reprocessing and nuclear materials shipments.

It considered that although significant progress had been made in terms of nuclear safety, the issues of the reprocessing and disposal of nuclear fuel and the dismantling of nuclear plants were far from resolved.

Nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technologies are once again the subject of particular attention from the international community because of their dual use nature.

Pyongyang violated its obligations under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty by secretly reprocessing enough plutonium to produce two nuclear weapons in the early 1990 s. After it withdrew from a restraining agreement negotiated by the Clinton administration in 1994, it expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and began reprocessing spent fuel that could produce another six bombs worth of plutonium.

Nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technologies are once again the subject of particular attention from the international community because of their dual use nature (civilian and military).

The participation of the largest possible number of States is vital first and foremost the nuclear Powers, but also countries which possess the potential to produce nuclear explosive devices and have uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing facilities.

Political constraints and monopolies in the area of fuel supply and reprocessing prevents developing countries from enjoying their inalienable right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and risk the continuous and secure operation of their nuclear power plants.

The Conference affirms the need to assure a reliable supply of nuclear fuel at reasonable cost to NPT parties that are in compliance with the Treaty and their safeguards obligations, which possess civil nuclear power reactors, and that do not pursue enrichment and reprocessing capabilities.

No reprocessing or export of spent fuel has ever taken place.

An example of our policy is our joint project with the United States on the safe transportation of fresh highly enriched fuel of the BN 350 reactor and its reprocessing into low grade nuclear material.

The spread of enrichment and reprocessing technology poses a particularly dangerous risk.

One of the alternatives that the report analyses as an incentive for a State to forego the development of its own activities related to the complete nuclear fuel cycle, particularly as concerns enrichment and reprocessing, is to provide assurances of the supply of nuclear fuel based on various options.

(f) Request also that a clause prohibiting the use of transferred items in the event of a withdrawal be included in intergovernmental agreements defining the modalities for transfers of sensitive nuclear goods (enrichment, reprocessing) or for large scale transfers

As President Bush has proposed, tighter controls should be adopted on enrichment and reprocessing technologies.

Among other things, it must ratify the additional protocol and suspend all enrichment and reprocessing activities.

The Conference understands that urgent measures are needed to curtail the spread of enrichment and reprocessing facilities, which are known to have been sought secretly by four NPT parties to date, in pursuit of nuclear weapons and in violation of the Treaty.

While some States Parties to the NPT with fuel cycle capabilities under IAEA full scope safeguards have been under extensive pressure and restrictions, non parties to the Treaty with unsafeguarded plutonium reprocessing facilities have free access to any nuclear technology and know how.

In addition, a number of countries with nuclear energy programs have the capability, if they choose, to manufacture nuclear weapons within a matter of months if their security perceptions change, because they have mastered the critical technology uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. If more countries take this path, it could prove to be the Achilles heel of non proliferation.

Lastly, there should be better controls over operations involving uranium enrichment, plutonium reprocessing and the disposal of spent fuel and nuclear waste they were a veritable Achilles heel of the current non proliferation regime, and should be concentrated in a limited number of regional centres.

More than two decades ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency caught North Korea violating its safeguards agreement and reprocessing plutonium. After the North renounced the subsequent Agreed Framework, negotiated by President Bill Clinton s administration, in 2003, it expelled IAEA inspectors, withdrew from the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, and has since detonated three nuclear devices and conducted a variety of missile tests.

They focus on processing, reprocessing, archiving, maintaining, and distributing existing data sets to make them more useful to researchers.

One of the most important events was the building of a Vector production complex for waste storage and reprocessing.

Despite their hawkish approach to North Korea s nuclear threats, South Korean officials know that uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing remains only a distant possibility. As a result, they are approaching negotiations skeptically, rather than emphasizing the sense of mutual obligation that should characterize the alliance.

In the Paris Agreement Iran subscribed to a total suspension of all activities connected with enrichment and all reprocessing activities.

Hungary was following with interest the ongoing discussion on new multilateral approaches to sensitive aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, and commended the Director General of IAEA for highlighting the need to discuss the dual uses of certain technologies, such as those related to uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

My proposal is to create a physical stockpile of LEU at the disposal of the IAEA as a last resort reserve for countries with nuclear power programs that face a supply disruption for non commercial reasons. This would give countries confidence that they can count on reliable supplies of fuel to run their nuclear power plants, and therefore do not need to develop their own uranium enrichment or plutonium reprocessing capability.

It urged Iran to comply fully with all non proliferation commitments within the IAEA framework and to suspend voluntarily all enrichment and reprocessing.

Its members agreed that there could be nightmare scenarios that combine the two and might require the preventive use of force. They urge strengthening the non proliferation regime through more intrusive inspections, and negotiation of arrangements for internationally guaranteed access to nuclear enrichment and reprocessing services, rather than allowing countries to construct them for themselves.

Japan recognizes the importance of the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran has voluntarily continued and extended its suspension of all uranium enrichment related and reprocessing activities.

The Islamic Republic of Iran had signed the additional protocol in December 2003 and had undertaken to suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities as a confidence building measure.

Clearly, too, I would hope, in the next year or so, to make some progress with regard to establishing better control over the sensitive parts of the fuel cycle, namely, enrichment and reprocessing activities.

We also welcome the report's call for universal adoption of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Model Additional Protocol and its enrichment and reprocessing programmes because of the proliferation dangers posed by such weapons.

Physical protection of nuclear material and nuclear facilities and assessment of vulnerability of nuclear facilities

Nuclear non proliferation, nuclear disarmament and peaceful use of nuclear energy should be given equal treatment.

Nuclear weapon free zones reinforce nuclear non proliferation and contribute to achieving the objective of nuclear disarmament.

Today, non nuclear weapon States are under constant nuclear threat because of the continued development of new types of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats by the super Power with the largest nuclear weapon stockpiles.

improvements in nuclear weapons by some nuclear weapon states.

Latvia supports a reasonable balance between nuclear disarmament and nuclear non proliferation, which would reduce the global nuclear threat.

Nuclear weapon States should work towards eliminating their large nuclear stockpiles and the nuclear weapons remaining in their arsenals.

Nuclear power plants are dangerous, not to mention nuclear weapons.

Recommendations for nuclear disarmament and non proliferation of nuclear weapons .

Nuclear weapon States should abandon the policy of nuclear deterrence based on first use of nuclear weapons and should reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their national security.

However, the Agency required sufficient human and financial resources to meet the objectives set forth in the Treaty and in its Statute, whether in the areas of nuclear non proliferation, cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, nuclear disarmament, nuclear technology, nuclear safety and security or nuclear verification.

Convinced that nuclear disarmament and the complete elimination of nuclear weapons are essential to remove the danger of nuclear war,

Nuclear weapon States continued to rely on nuclear weapons in part because they had developed no alternative to nuclear deterrence.