24 July 2024

The Australian-born Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is among 125 civil society organisations to join a statement delivered to a conference of the nations that have joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the United Nations in Geneva this week. 

The statement addresses the AUKUS trilateral military partnership and calls for AUKUS members to “make firm their commitments to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament by joining the TPNW as a matter of urgency.”

“There remains an urgent need to critique the nuclear proliferation risks posed by AUKUS,” it reads.

“The Australian decision to enter into agreements around nuclear-powered submarines was made on the assumption that it would be permitted to divert nuclear material for a non-proscribed military purpose, by utilising Paragraph 14 of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA). The ‘loophole’ of Paragraph 14 potentially allows non-nuclear-armed states to acquire nuclear material which would be removed from IAEA safeguards.

“Australia’s proposed acquisition of large quantities of HEU outside of usual IAEA safeguards and scrutiny jeopardises non-proliferation efforts and fissile material security. This conference has the mandate to prepare recommendations for the upcoming Review Conference to strengthen rather than weaken the global non-proliferation regime by moving to close the Paragraph 14 loophole. States represented here today should negotiate the closure of the Paragraph 14 loophole in the NPT.

“To eliminate the risk of non-nuclear weapons states acquiring nuclear weapons grade HEU, all states, including AUKUS members, should refrain from sharing the technology and materials that will be transferred if Australia and others acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The paragraph 14 loophole undermines the NPT and needs to be closed.”

Those who signed the statement are “concerned that AUKUS may exacerbate regional tensions, fuel an arms race and increase risks of war in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly involving China and the United States, and will increase the danger of nuclear escalation in any such conflict.”

Acting Director of ICAN Australia Jemila Rushton said “there are real concerns among Australia’s neighbours, trading partners and international civil society about Australia’s planned acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines. The current alarming risk of nuclear war demands Australia choose to be part of the solution to nuclear dangers rather than being part of the problem by continuing to contribute to the possible use of nuclear weapons and intensifying proliferation risks. The best way that Australia can do this is by joining the TPNW.” 

The civil society signatories call for AUKUS members to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) to “legally confirm that they will not acquire or host nuclear weapons, nor assist with their use or threat of use” and “make firm their commitments to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, as a matter of urgency.”

Thomas Huckans, Youth Activist from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) and its youth initiative, Reverse The Trend (RTT), USA delivered the statement. He said “It was an honour to speak on behalf of ICAN Australia and to engage directly with the grave threat posed to the disarmament architecture by the transfer of nuclear submarines to Australia. As a youth activist, my vision is to one day see a global atmosphere of mutual trust and cooperation, and I want to ensure that current leaders do not endanger the world young people will soon inherit.”

Link to video and to read the full statement: https://icanw.org.au/aukus_npt_2024/