April 27, 2000

Mr. Chairman:

The American delegation congratulates you on your selection to chair this important Committee.  We are confident that your capable leadership will guide our work to a successful conclusion, and we look forward to working with you and others as we undertake the work given us by the Conference.

Committee Three has been asked to review the operation of the NPT as it pertains to critical issues concerning cooperation among NPT parties.  Specifically, we will consider issues pertaining to peaceful nuclear cooperation as mandated in the Treaty, particularly under Article IV.

In so doing, we will take into consideration the outcome of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, including the decision concerning ��strengthening the review proecess for the Treaty?and ��Principles and Objectives for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament."  We will want to look back to review what we have done, look at where we are today, and look to the future with the aim of improving still further the effectiveness of peaceful nuclear cooperation under the Treaty.

Looking back, my delegation notes the Cluster III debates on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy that took place in each of the Preparatory Committee meetings for this Conference as part of the strengthened review process.  We believe that those debates made a considerable contribution to our ability now to conduct our work.  These debates successfully set the stage for our deliberations today, and demonstrated the value of the strengthened review process as it applies to Article IV and peaceful nuclear cooperation.

We believe that the record shows clearly the depth of the U.S. commitment to all of the goals of the NPT, and not least to those of Article IV.  In the words of that Article, we have based our policy on "the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty" to pursue peaceful nuclear development and to engage in "the fullest possible exchange" to facilitate this development.  Both bilaterally and through international organizations, principally the Technical Cooperation Program of the IAEA, we have supported nuclear cooperation in fields ranging from nuclear power to nuclear applications in medicine, agriculture, hydrology, industrial and other applications.  In the period since the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, we have provided some $100 million to support the Agency's technical cooperation activities.

Looking at where we are today, we see impressive results.  One particular success story is illustrative.  In Zanzibar just a few years ago, families watched helplessly as their cattle died while tsetse files spread disease and all efforts to control the flies proved futile.  As the cattle died, farmers lost the milk their children desperately needed as well any hope that milk could be sold for badly needed cash.  Most of the 700,000 families living on the largest island of Zanzibar seemed doomed to lives of poverty and disease.

But nuclear technology developed by the IAEA has changed this dismal picture profoundly.  By means of an environmentally friendly nuclear-based technology known as the sterile insect technique, the tsetse fly has been not just controlled but eliminated from the largest island of Zanzibar.  Cattle now prosper, milk supplies have increased, and families can sell their milk surpluses for the cash needed for other necessities.  The quality of life has improved steadily.  More recently, the sterile insect technique has been applied in Ethiopia in an initial effort to eliminate the tsetse fly from vast areas of continental Africa.

We are proud to have provided strong support for the IAEA's work in Zanzibar, and cite this success as an example of our commitment to peaceful nuclear cooperation under Article IV.  We believe that a broad range of peaceful nuclear cooperation activities pursued under the NPT can make a substantial constructive difference in the lives of people everywhere.

As we continue peaceful nuclear cooperation among NPT parties, we must not lose sight of the imperative of nuclear safety.  Over the past decade, the United States has contributed over $550 million to help improve nuclear safety in many countries.  Both our Nuclear Regulatory Commission and our Department of Energy provide nuclear safety assistance through bilateral cooperation agreements with more than thirty countries.  While much of this assistance is provided bilaterally and through the European Bank for Reconstruction, the United States also supports work on nuclear safety done by the IAEA.  In 1999, we pledged a voluntary contribution to the IAEA of $750,000 to support several nuclear safety-related activities.

Mr. Chairman, the NPT establishes a direct linkage between peaceful nuclear cooperation and the Treaty's nuclear non-proliferation provisions.  Parties have an obligation to ensure that cooperation under the Treaty does not contribute to a risk that nuclear explosive capabilities could spread to additional countries or regions.  Compliance with the non-proliferation Commitments of the Treaty is critical to the future of peaceful nuclear cooperation under Article IV.

Looking ahead, we want to build on the strong record of cooperation already established under Article IV.  We see considerable potential to enhance the contribution of nuclear technology and materials to the well being of our peoples and our planet.  Nuclear applications can improve many aspects of life, including medical care, sources of potable water, electricity generation, shelf life of food supplies, and the health of livestock.  The United States remains committed to peaceful nuclear cooperation under responsible nonproliferation undertakings, as provided for by the NPT.  As in the past, we will continue to implement an NPT preference policy in our nuclear cooperation with others.  We will also continue to channel cooperation, to the least developed countries in cases where nuclear techniques can safely and securely contribute to sustainable development.

Mr. Chairman, my delegation believes that the NPT parties represented here share many common goals in seeking to improve and expand the benefits of peaceful nuclear cooperation under the NPT.  We look forward to working with others to craft a consensus review of the past as well as to define our shared goals for cooperation in the future.  Working together, we can help to realize the full promise of the peaceful nuclear cooperation envisaged under the NPT and thus contribute to a better life for our citizens now and for generations to come.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)