The Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) will enter into force on May 8 after being ratified by the necessary number of nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced Friday.
Nicaragua’s ratification of the amendment has fulfilled the requirement that 102 state parties, or two-thirds of the state parties to the convention, adhere to the amendment.
The CPPNM, a legally binding accord on the physical protection of nuclear material for peaceful purposes during international transport, was amended in 2005 to include protection of nuclear material in domestic use, storage, and transport. The convention, with 152 state parties, entered into force in 1987.
After a steady number of ratifications for the amendment over more than a decade, including the United States last year, there was a rush of state approvals in the days prior to last week’s fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. Only two more ratifications were needed by the time of the summit, and Uruguay and Nicaragua stepped in to provide just that.
Under the amendment, CPPNM states must develop, enact, and sustain “an appropriate physical protection regime applicable to nuclear material and nuclear facilities under their jurisdiction,” according to the IAEA. The amendment also widens the scope of offenses covered in the convention and creates new offenses, including nuclear material smuggling and nuclear facility sabotage. It further expands cooperation and information sharing on the recovery of stolen or smuggled nuclear material between states, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said.
The IAEA will offer legislative and technical assistance to member states to help them implement the convention, the statement said. State parties will convene five years after the amendment’s entry into force and national points of contacts will meet annually to review implementation, it noted.
“The entry into force of the Amendment demonstrates the determination of the international community to act together to strengthen nuclear security globally,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said today in a statement.
