OpenLegislation

Division 1 INTRODUCTION

United Kingdom

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The building up of a well-functioning monitoring and verification system of the Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO (the Preparatory Commission) is a crucial element for preparing the implementation of the CTBT once it will have entered into force. The development of the capabilities of the Preparatory Commission in the area of noble gas monitoring is an important tool for assessing whether or not an observed explosion is a nuclear test. In addition, the operability and performance of the CTBT monitoring and verification system depends on the contribution of all States Signatories of the CTBT. Therefore, it is important to enable States Signatories of the CTBT to participate in and contribute fully to the CTBT monitoring and verification system. The work undertaken in implementing this Decision will also be important for enhancing the prospect of early entry into force and the universalisation of the CTBT.

The projects described in this Decision will significantly contribute to achieving the objectives of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

To this end, the Union will support the following six projects:

  1. (1)

    to provide technical assistance and capacity building to States Signatories of the CTBT to enable them to fully participate in and contribute to the implementation of the CTBT verification regime;

  2. (2)

    to develop capacity for future generations of CTBT Experts through the Capacity Development Initiative (CDI);

  3. (3)

    to enhance the Atmospheric Transport Model (ATM);

  4. (4)

    to characterise and mitigate radioxenon;

  5. (5)

    to support the Integrated Field Exercise in 2014 (IFE14) through the development of an integrated multispectral array;

  6. (6)

    to improve the sustainment of certified International Monitoring System (IMS) auxiliary seismic stations.

The prospects of entry into force of the CTBT have improved due to a more favourable political environment, which is also demonstrated by recent new signatures and ratifications of the CTBT, including by Indonesia, one of the States listed in Annex 2 to the CTBT. Given this positive dynamic, in the coming years an increased and urgent focus needs to be put on both completing the build-up of the CTBT verification regime and ensuring its readiness and operational capability, as well as continuing work towards the entry into force and universalisation of the CTBT. The nuclear tests carried out by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in October 2006 and May 2009 not only demonstrated the importance of a universal ban on nuclear tests, they also underscored the need for an effective verification regime to monitor compliance with such a ban. A fully operational and credible CTBT verification regime will provide the international community with reliable and independent means to ensure that this ban is respected.

Moreover, the CTBTO data also play a crucial role in timely tsunami warning and the assessment of the dispersal of radioactive emissions after the Fukushima nuclear accident of March 2011.

Supporting those projects reinforces the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The implementation of those complex projects will contribute significantly to improving effective multilateral responses to current security challenges. In particular, those projects will further the objectives of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, including to further universalise and strengthen the norms contained in the CTBT as well as its verification regime. The Preparatory Commission is building an IMS to ensure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected. Based on its unique expertise through a worldwide network, comprising over 280 facilities in 85 countries, and the International Data Centre (IDC), the Preparatory Commission is the sole organisation with the capacity to implement those projects, which can only be financed through an extra-budgetary contribution to the Preparatory Commission.

In Joint Action 2006/243/CFSP, Joint Action 2007/468/CFSP, Joint Action 2008/588/CFSP and Decision 2010/461/CFSP, the Union has supported the following: the establishment of an E-learning training programme, the Integrated Field Exercise 2008 in respect of On-Site Inspections (OSI), Radio-Xenon Assessment and Measurement, technical assistance to Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, auxiliary seismic stations, strengthening cooperation with the scientific community and strengthening the OSI capabilities with the development of a noble gas detection system. The projects described in this Decision build upon the previous Joint Action projects and progress achieved through their implementation. The projects described in this Decision were elaborated in a manner to avoid any potential overlaps with Decision 2010/461/CFSP. Some of them contain elements that are similar to activities undertaken under previous Joint Actions, but differ in material scope or target different recipient countries or regions.

The six projects in support of the activities of the Preparatory Commission mentioned above will be implemented and managed by its Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS).