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Australia's nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts are to be subject to a wide-ranging parliamentary review. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has directed the Federal Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties to undertake an inquiry into nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties that involve Australia. These include the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, and bilateral safeguards agreements that cover the export of Australian uranium. The joint committee is to review how the treaties might be made ''more comprehensive or effective''.

The Marshall Islands has become the 151st state to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to a press release issued today (see GSN, Oct. 9). The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization called the Oct. 28 move "highly symbolic." The United States from 1946 to 1958 conducted 67 nuclear test blasts in the atmosphere above the Marshall Islands' Bikini and Enewetak atolls. The treaty to date has been signed by 182 nations and ratified by 151 countries. In the Pacific islands region, 12 states have signed and 10 countries have ratified the treaty. Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu have yet to join the list of signatories. Before it can enter it to force, the treaty must be ratified by the 44 "Annex 2" countries. There are nine holdouts -- China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States.

The Marshall Islands has become the 151st state to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to a press release issued today (see GSN, Oct. 9). The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization called the Oct. 28 move "highly symbolic." The United States from 1946 to 1958 conducted 67 nuclear test blasts in the atmosphere above the Marshall Islands' Bikini and Enewetak atolls. The treaty to date has been signed by 182 nations and ratified by 151 countries. In the Pacific islands region, 12 states have signed and 10 countries have ratified the treaty. Niue, Tonga and Tuvalu have yet to join the list of signatories. Before it can enter it to force, the treaty must be ratified by the 44 "Annex 2" countries. There are nine holdouts -- China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States.

Key elements in the resolution adopted unanimously Thursday by the U.N. Security Council: NUCLEAR-FREE Resolved "to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons." COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY Urged all states to ratify the treaty, which outlaws all nuclear tests everywhere. Lack of ratification by a handful of nations, including the U.S., has kept the treaty from entering into force. FISSILE MATERIAL CUTOFF TREATY Called for negotiation of a treaty that would ban production of fissile material used for nuclear weapons. STRENGTHENING NONPROLIFERATION TREATY

"President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reached final agreement Friday on a nuclear arms treaty that would cut the nuclear arsenals of the onetime rivals to the lowest levels since the 1960s, settling the deal during a morning phone call prior to meeting on April 8th in Prague to sign the pact. Charles Digges, 27/03-2010 The new pact will replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), which has enabled the decommissioning of hundreds of nuclear warhead the countries have pointed at one another and enabled US- Russia bilateral programmes to destroy nuclear weapons like the Cooperative Threat Reduction act. Signed in 1991, the START 1 treaty entered into force in 1994. The new treaty, called the the Measures to Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, also replaces the Moscow Treaty of 2002, viewed by many, including Bellona, as useless showmanship. "

"Reporting from Washington - President Obama devotes much of his schedule this month to arms control. He signs a new treaty with Russia in Prague, the Czech capital, on Thursday, releases a major policy statement on U.S. use of nuclear arms, and hosts a summit on arms safeguards April 12 and 13. The events, which one advocacy group is calling "Washington's nuclear April," represent the rollout of Obama's agenda for controlling nuclear arms worldwide, an issue that was a major element of his presidential campaign. How important is the new U.S.-Russian arms treaty? The White House has portrayed the treaty, called New START, after the Strategic Arms Reduction treaties of the early 1990s, as the most important in decades between the two countries that hold 90% of the world's nuclear arms. Some nongovernmental experts have challenged the White House assertion of a 30% reduction in deployed long-range warheads, saying the actual shrinkage may be closer to 13%. Even so, there's wide agreement that the treaty is a positive step in strained U.S.-Russian relations and, with luck, could lead to bigger cuts. Agreement on this deal was crucial for Obama's effort to keep other countries from building bombs: He needs to be able to say the U.S. is moving -- if slowly -- toward eliminating its nuclear arsenal."

This time around, U.S. Senate skeptics who killed the nuclear test-ban treaty a decade ago must take into account a new, $1-billion verification network underpinning the pact, the treaty chief said Wednesday. In 1999, "the system was a blueprint," Tibor Toth said of the high-tech web of stations on alert for nuclear bomb tests. Now "I could call it a `verification Manhattan Project," he said, referring to the all-out U.S. program that built the first bombs in the 1940s. Toth, who heads the U.N.-affiliated Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, spoke with The Associated Press on the eve of a conference of some 150 nations convened every other year to urge those that have not ratified the treaty, including the United States, to do so. The two-day session will be held in parallel Thursday with a summit of the 15 U.N. Security Council members on the subject of nuclear nonproliferation, presided over by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Washington and Moscow pledged Friday to uphold the "spirit" of the START nuclear arms treaty and to seek a new agreement as soon as possible, hours before the landmark 1991 pact was to expire. US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said in a joint statement they would keep pushing for nuclear disarmament, despite failing to cut a last-minute deal by the treaty's December 5 expiration date. "We express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date," the statement said. The Obama administration had pushed hard for a new START agreement as part of its efforts to improve strained US ties with Russia, but disputes over US monitoring of Russian missiles had bogged down talks in recent weeks.

Washington and Moscow pledged Friday to uphold the "spirit" of the START nuclear arms treaty and to seek a new agreement as soon as possible, hours before the landmark 1991 pact was to expire. US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said in a joint statement they would keep pushing for nuclear disarmament, despite failing to cut a last-minute deal by the treaty's December 5 expiration date. "We express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date," the statement said. The Obama administration had pushed hard for a new START agreement as part of its efforts to improve strained US ties with Russia, but disputes over US monitoring of Russian missiles had bogged down talks in recent weeks.

"Defense Secretary Robert Gates said a treaty with Russia to cut long-range nuclear weapons on both sides will give the U.S. a clearer picture of its former Cold War adversary's arsenal. The treaty allows for new verification standards, including access to each other's warheads for the first time, as Russia grows more reliant on nuclear forces for its defense, Gates told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington today. The U.S. and Russia hold 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. "This treaty reduces the strategic nuclear forces of our two nations in a manner that strengthens the strategic stability of our relationship and protects the security of the American people and our allies," Gates said in the first hearing since President Barack Obama submitted the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty to the Senate last week for ratification. "I am confident that it is the right agreement for today and for the future." "

The 1991 Soviet-U.S. Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) expires December 5 next year. This brings to the fore the problem of reducing nuclear arsenals and the monitoring of the process because the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), which is valid through 2012, does not provide for irreversible reductions and does not establish a permanent mutual verification mechanism. The 1991 treaty, which entered into force in late 1994, limits the sides' strategic offensive potential to 1,600 carriers and 6,000 warheads. START II, the successor of START I, banned the use of MIRVs on ICBMs but it was never validated. In 2004, Russia officially withdrew from START II in response to the U.S. pullout from the 1972 ABM Treaty in 2002.

The Russian and U.S. presidents discussed a new bilateral arms reduction treaty in a phone conversation on Monday, the Kremlin said. Moscow and Washington are negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, which expires on December 5. Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama "touched on issues of future cooperation between Russia and the United States in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, and also discussed progress in preparing a new treaty on strategic arms reduction," the Kremlin said. An outline of the new pact was agreed during a summit held by Obama and Medvedev in Moscow in July, and includes cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000. Obama also conveyed his condolences to the families of those killed in last Friday's terrorist attack on a train travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. A total of 26 people have been confirmed dead following the derailment of several carriages of the Nevsky Express, and two remain unaccounted for.

The Russian and U.S. presidents discussed a new bilateral arms reduction treaty in a phone conversation on Monday, the Kremlin said. Moscow and Washington are negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, which expires on December 5. Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama "touched on issues of future cooperation between Russia and the United States in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan, and also discussed progress in preparing a new treaty on strategic arms reduction," the Kremlin said. An outline of the new pact was agreed during a summit held by Obama and Medvedev in Moscow in July, and includes cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000. Obama also conveyed his condolences to the families of those killed in last Friday's terrorist attack on a train travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. A total of 26 people have been confirmed dead following the derailment of several carriages of the Nevsky Express, and two remain unaccounted for.

"The Obama administration, seeking to bolster congressional support for the new strategic arms treaty with Russia, plans to spend $180 billion over the next decade to upgrade the nation's nuclear weapons complex, keep warheads capable and modernize strategic delivery systems, according to documents delivered Thursday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. With Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates scheduled to testify in support of the treaty next week, the administration sent lawmakers the treaty package, including a classified report that lays out in detail its program to sustain "a strong nuclear deterrent for the duration of the new START treaty and beyond." "

"A leader in the Russian Senate said Friday Parliament will consider the new START treaty with the United States in about three weeks. Mikhail Margelov, head of the Senate international relations committee, said he plans to discuss the treaty May 27 with James Miller, a U.S. undersecretary of defense, RIA Novosti reported. Miller will be coming to Moscow for the meeting. In the United States, the treaty has already been submitted to the Senate for ratification. The treaty, replacing one that expired in December, calls for both countries to cut the number of nuclear warheads to 1,550 over seven years, and delivery vehicles to 800."

Treaty's Entry Into Force Makes Entire Southern Hemisphere Free of Nuclear Weapons Over the last 13 years, all 53 African nations have signed the Treaty of Pelindaba. A Treaty making Africa into a zone free of nuclear weapons entered into force on 15 July 2009, in turn expanding the nuclear-weapon free territories to cover the entire Southern hemisphere. The Treaty of Pelindaba entered into force when Burundi deposited its instrument of ratification, becoming the 28th nation to do so. Over the last 13 years, all 53 African nations have signed the Treaty of Pelindaba. The IAEA has issued the following statement:

Following recent action by Africa, a majority of the world's countries have now banned nuclear weapons from their national territory for the first time. The change happened when an all-Africa treaty entered into force in July. International civil society organizations including the World Council of Churches (WCC) played a catalytic role. Taking a shared approach to a safer world, Africa became a nuclear-weapon-free zone when Burundi recently became the 28th state to ratify the Treaty of Pelindaba. A WCC delegation visited the central African country in March 2009 to encourage the step. The addition of 54 countries in Africa means that 116 nations are now within treaty zones banning nuclear weapons. The WCC Central Committee has saluted Africa's new nuclear-free status in a September 2009 statement and invites further church support for such actions. The committee has also urged Russia and the United States "to join China, Britain and France in ratifying the treaty protocols that give Africa added protection" from nuclear attacks.

US and Russian officials have been holding talks in Rome as they begin work on a new nuclear weapons treaty. BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus looks at why they might want one. In some ways it is like a reprise of the Cold War: US and Russian officials meeting in a European capital to discuss the arcane and complex details of a new arms control treaty. The goal is to have the new agreement ready by the end of 2009 when the first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), that dates from 1991, expires.

"It is time to put a little reality into the discussions about nuclear weapons and missile defense in the wake of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, signed April 8 by President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Republicans immediately raised questions about whether the treaty could "constrain improvements to U.S. missile defenses, if objected to by the Russians," as Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain, both of Arizona, put it the day the pact was signed. Last week, at a hearing of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio) mentioned his concern that the United States will be "self-constrained" by the treaty. "

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the latest country to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. This is according to the global nuclear watchdog. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the signing ceremony took place Thursday at United Nations Headquarters. Thirty of the 33 States in Latin America and the Caribbean are now signatories to the treaty. The three non-signatories are Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba.

"Representatives from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the latest five-yearly Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which is scheduled to start on Monday and will last 25 days. According to Sergio Duarte, the UN high representative for disarmament affairs, one of the main challenges for this year's event is how to make the NPT more effective in the fields of disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the three main thrusts of the treaty. The following is a brief introduction to the NPT: In the 1960s, the United States and the Soviet Union stepped up their nuclear testing in a bid to improve their nuclear arsenals. Seeking to maintain their respective nuclear advantages, the two superpowers began to push for negotiations on a treaty that would stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons."

"In closed-door huddles extending into Thursday night, diplomats at a nuclear treaty conference sought to break a deadlock between the Arabs and Israel's allies over a plan to turn the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone. A deal would likely clear the way for a broader consensus agreement Friday on doing more to check the spread of nuclear arms worldwide, successfully ending a monthlong, 189-nation conference to review and strengthen the 40-year-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). A draft final declaration would have the twice-a-decade treaty review session call for the convening of a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.""

Israel must comply with the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency if the Mideast is to become a region free of weapons of mass destruction, Syria's foreign minister said Monday. Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem echoed calls by many Arab nations during the current U.N. General Assembly session for Israel to comply with the IAEA's demand to submit its nuclear facilities to the agency's safeguard regime and to adhere to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty restricts any nuclear program to nonmilitary purposes. Israel has never said it has nuclear weapons, but is universally believed to possess a sizable arsenal of such warheads.

Israel must comply with the demands of the International Atomic Energy Agency if the Mideast is to become a region free of weapons of mass destruction, Syria's foreign minister said Monday. Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem echoed calls by many Arab nations during the current U.N. General Assembly session for Israel to comply with the IAEA's demand to submit its nuclear facilities to the agency's safeguard regime and to adhere to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty restricts any nuclear program to nonmilitary purposes. Israel has never said it has nuclear weapons, but is universally believed to possess a sizable arsenal of such warheads.