Report submitted by Chile

Article I

Chile considers the implementation of article I to be essential and imperative in order to halt the proliferation of such weapons of mass destruction. The threat of nuclear terrorism confirms the need to ensure that nuclear weapons are not transferred.

Article II

As a non-nuclear-weapon State, Chile reiterates its firm commitment not to manufacture or acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. In keeping with articles I and II, our country is a State party to all the regional and universal instruments prohibiting nuclear arms and their proliferation, including the Antarctic Treaty, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) and the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty. Chile has traditionally promoted and will continue to promote this objective in all forums and regimes for disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control, including the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Conference on Disarmament, the Disarmament Commission, the First Committee of the General Assembly and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

Article III

As a non-nuclear-weapon State, Chile has agreed to accept the safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Our country is a State party to a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with IAEA and its Additional Protocol. Chile strongly supports the Agency’s global verification regime. Chile does not have any reactors that produce nuclear power, but it does have research reactors that are subject to IAEA safeguard measures. Consequently, all dual-use material is subject to the Agency’s safeguard measures.

Article IV

Chile supports the inalienable right of all Parties to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with articles I and II of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Chile considers that, in exercising this right, special care must be taken to maintain the security of nuclear facilities, material and technology. In that connection, Chile appreciates the initiative of the President of the United States of America to convene a nuclear security summit. Our country is particularly concerned about the safe transport of radioactive waste and materials. As a coastal State, Chile considers it necessary to receive early notification about this form of cargo and about the liability conventions that cover this type of transport in the event of an accident.

Article V

As indicated earlier, Chile is a State party to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test- Ban Treaty. This instrument, in our opinion, represents the international community’s desire to prohibit nuclear tests for all time. The Treaty is making a unique contribution to curbing the arms race. The current international monitoring system makes it possible to monitor this type of activity properly on a global scale. The system contributes significantly to international non-proliferation and security. Chile participates in the system through seven stations located in its mainland territory and on offshore islands, and is prepared to assume responsibilities in Antarctica using station S154. We also appreciate the fact that the technology used by the monitoring system can be applied to the analysis of natural phenomena in order to prevent natural disasters caused by seismic or volcanic activity or tsunamis.

Article VI

As stated earlier, Chile promotes nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons in every appropriate forum. We strongly supported General Assembly resolution 58/51 on this subject and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of using nuclear weapons. Furthermore, our country supports those programmes that promote nuclear disarmament, negative security measures and the prevention of an arms race in outer space. In that connection, it should be noted that Chile coordinated the work of the Conference on Disarmament at its 2008 and 2009 sessions with respect to agenda item 1, “Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament”, and has consistently favoured an early start to negotiations for a ban on the production of fissionable materials for hostile purposes; in the First Committee of the General Assembly, together with a group of countries from Africa, Asia and Europe, it led the initiative on “decreasing the operational readiness of nuclear weapons systems”; last year (2009), it became the coordinator of focal points of States parties to the instruments that establish nuclear-weapon-free zones, and this year, in that capacity, it will convene the Second Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones on 30 April, just prior to the Eighth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Chile supports the United Nations Secretary-General’s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament.

Article VII

Chile is firmly committed to the objectives and purposes of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, establishing the denuclearization of Latin America and the Caribbean, and we promote the expansion of the nuclear-weapon-free zone established by the Treaty. We are convinced that nuclear-weapon-free zones play a fundamental role in achieving the objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons by ensuring peace and stability in the regions concerned. They constitute an effective measure for both disarmament and non-proliferation. In view of the foregoing, and as indicated earlier, we are currently involved in organizing the Second Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones. The goal of the Conference will be to increase collaboration between the different zones; to encourage nuclear-weapon States to fully respect the zones, including through the ratification of the relevant protocols; and to support the establishment of new zones, including the establishment in the near future of a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

Article VIII

Chile participates regularly in the review conferences on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and will certainly attend the Eighth Review Conference, cooperating in the proper conduct of its work and the preservation and development of this fundamental instrument for disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Article IX

Chile hopes that India, Israel and Pakistan will accede to the Treaty, and that the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea will return to it, as non-nuclear States.

Article X

Chile considers that the right to withdraw from the Treaty should be exercised in a manner that does not involve a departure from its principles and objectives, particularly as set out in paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 1887 (2009). We maintain our position that the indefinite extension of the Treaty does not entail the indefinite possession of nuclear arms. Chile firmly supports the 13 practical steps adopted at the Sixth Review Conference (2000), which constitute a systematic and progressive effort to achieve the implementation of article VI of the Treaty.