Nuclear Weapons Free Zones

The Antarctic Treaty prohibits nuclear explosions, radioactive waste disposal, and military deployments in the area south of the 60 degrees south latitude. The 12 original signatories were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

Currently, 48 nations have agreed to the Antarctic Treaty. However, only 28 control the decision making process. These 28 “Consultative Parties” include the original 12 signatories and Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, South Korea, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and Uruguay.

Turkey is a non-consultative member. The non-consultative members are Austria, Belarus, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, North Korea, Malaysia, Monaco, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Switzerland, and Venezuela.

Opened for signature on 1 December 1959
Entered into force on 23 June 1961
Turkey ratified the Treaty on 25 January 1996

The Treaty is designed to prevent the presence, testing, use, or acquisition of nuclear weapons by the Signatories or third parties. The Signatories agreed to prohibit the receipt, storage, installation, deployment or any form of possession of all nuclear weapons, directly or indirectly by any of the Parties, by order of third parties or by any other means. The Parties also agreed to abstain from carrying out, promoting, or authorizing, directly or indirectly, the testing, use, fabrication, production, possession, or control of all nuclear weapons or to participate in these activities in any form.

Opened for signature on 14 February 1967
Entered into force on 25 April 1969
Signatories (33 countries)

Additional Protocol – Provides for the application of the status of denuclearization in territories for which, de jure or de facto, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States are internationally responsible, and which lie within the limits of the geographic zone established by the treaty.

Additional Protocol II obliges all five nuclear weapons states (NWS) to respect the status of denuclearization of the relevant geographic zone and commits them not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against parties to the treaty. All five NWS have acceded to the protocol.

Signatories have agreed not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over nuclear weapons; station nuclear weapons; or test or use nuclear weapons anywhere inside or outside the treaty zone; not to seek or receive any assistance in this; not to take any action to assist or encourage the manufacture or acquisition of any nuclear explosive device by any state; not to provide source or special fissionable materials or equipment to any non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS), or any NWS unless subject to safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); to prevent in the territory of States Parties the stationing of any nuclear explosive device; to prevent the testing of any nuclear explosive device; not to dump radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter at sea anywhere within the zone, and to prevent the dumping of radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter by anyone in the territorial sea of the States Parties.

The treaty covers the territories of the signatories, including the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zones. The protocol is currently open for signature by the five permanent nuclear weapons state. To date, none of the NWS states have signed the treaty because of the specific language about the EEZ and continental shelf, restrictions on the use of nuclear weapons in the zone (negative security assurances), or from within the zone against targets outside the zone, and the passage of nuclear powered ships through the zone via international waters as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Opened for signature on 15 December 1995
Entered into force on 28 March 1997
Signatories (10 countries)

Protocol

States Parties are obliged not to manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess, or have control over any nuclear explosive device anywhere inside or outside the Treaty zone; not to seek or receive any assistance in this; not to take any action to assist or encourage the manufacture or acquisition of any nuclear explosive device by any State; and not to provide sources or special fissionable materials or equipment to any non-nuclear weapon State (NNWS), or any nuclear weapon State (NWS) unless it is subject to safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). States Parties are also obligated to prevent the stationing of any nuclear explosive device; to prevent the testing of any nuclear explosive device; not to dump radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter at sea, anywhere within the Treaty zone, and to prevent the dumping of radioactive wastes and other radioactive matter by anyone in the territorial sea of the States Parties.

Opened for signature on 6 August 1985
Entered into force on 11 December 1986
Signatories (17 Countries)

Protocol 1 – Calls on the Parties responsible for territories in the Treaty zones to apply the prohibitions of the Treaty.

Protocol 2 – Calls on the nuclear weapons states to not use or threaten the use nuclear explosive devices against the Signatories.

Protocol 3 – Calls on the nuclear weapons states not to test nuclear explosive devices within the zone established by the Treaty.

The Parties undertake not to conduct research on, develop, manufacture, stockpile or otherwise acquire, possess, or have control over any nuclear explosive device by any means anywhere; not to seek or receive any assistance in the research on, development, manufacture, stockpiling or acquisition, or possession of any nuclear explosive device; and not to take any action to assist or encourage the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling or acquisition, or possession of any nuclear explosive device. The Parties also undertake to prohibit, in their territory, the stationing of any nuclear explosive device.

The Signatories are allowed to decide whether to allow visits by foreign ships and aircraft to their ports and airfields, transit of their airspace by foreign aircraft, and navigation by foreign ships in their territorial seas or archipelago waters. The Treaty further prohibits the Parties from testing or allowing testing in their territory, or assisting or encouraging the testing of any nuclear explosive device; as well as the dumping of radioactive waste.

The Parties undertake to declare any capability for the manufacture of nuclear explosive devices; dismantle and destroy any nuclear explosive device that they have manufactured prior to the coming into force of this Treaty; destroy facilities for the manufacture of nuclear explosive devices or, where possible, to convert them to peaceful uses; and to permit the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to verify the processes of dismantling and destruction of the nuclear explosive devices, as well as the destruction or conversion of the facilities for their production.

The Treaty also allows the Parties to engage in peaceful nuclear activities and obligates them to conclude full-scope safeguard agreements with the IAEA in order to verify the peaceful character of such activities. The Parties also undertake not to take, or assist, or encourage any action aimed at an armed attack by conventional or other means against nuclear installations in the Treaty’s zone of application.

Opened for signature on 11 April 1996
Entered into force on 15 July 2009
52 Signatories / 36 Ratifications