1997

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INESAP is a non-profit, non-governmental network organisation with participants from all over the world. It is part of the worldwide activities of INES. The Interdisciplinary Research Group in Science, Technology and Security (IANUS) at Darmstadt University of Technology (Germany), as a member organisation of INES, manages most existing activities in INESAP. The international Coordinating Committee of INESAP has 7 members in 4 continents. The main objective of INESAP are to promote nuclear disarmament, to tighten existing arms control and non-proliferation regimes, as well as to implement unconventional approaches to curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to controlling the transfer of related technology. Model Nuclear Weapon Convention A main point of the work of INESAP within the Global Network Abolition 2000 continued to be the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention (mNWC). The drafting group for the mNWC was convened by the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP), and technical assistance was provided by INESAP. A regular exchange took place between New York and Darmstadt which included visits for drafting and follow-on meetings. The drafting group consisted of lawyers, physicists, and disarmament experts. The mNWC was launched on April 7 in New York during the NPT PrepCom meeting. The majority of states demands such a treaty. The Irish Ambassador John Campbell praised this proposal as the newest milestone of important events leading to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Russia and most NATO member states rejected the call for negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention. Later in the year, the government of Costa Rica submitted the mNWC to the UN Secretary General and asked him to disseminate it to the government of all states. The mNWC was translated into all official UN languages and received the document number A/C.1.52/7. INESAP participated at a Roundtable Discussion for Delegates and Observers to the Conference on Disarmament on "Next Steps to Nuclear Disarmament: Towards a Nuclear Weapons Convention" which was hosted by the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva on August 6. The goal was to introduce to the purpose and substance of the mNWC and to get feedback from interested delegates. INESAP 1997 Conference in Shanghai The most important event of the year was the INESAP 1997 Conference "Challenges and Opportunities for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World", September 8-10, 1997, Fudan University, Shanghai. The third International Conference of INESAP was hosted by the Center for American Studies at the Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Prof. Dingli Shen, Deputy Director of the Center and member of the INESAP Coordinating Committee together with his staff cared very efficiently for the local organisation and created a very pleasant and productive working atmosphere. International invitations and the program were managed by Martin Kalinowski and his colleagues at the research group IANUS of the Darmstadt University of Technology. The conference was made possible by fundings from the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The main topical interest of the INESAP 1997 Conference focused on challenges and opportunities for a nuclear-weapon-free world. The central goals of this conference were to foster the international network of engineers and scientists who engage in nuclear disarmament issues, to plan future INESAP activities and to provide an extensive opportunity for Chinese and international disarmament experts to meet with each other and exchange views. 19 analysts from China were attending, many of them working with various governmental institutions. The 28 international participants came from 13 countries. The welcome speeches in the opening session of the conference were given by Prof. Yang Fujia, President of the Fudan University, Shanghai, Prof. Xie Xide, Director of the Center for American Studies, a former President of the Fudan University, Shanghai. David Krieger, the Deputy Chair of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) introduced to the topic of the conference and called scientists to act responsibly with regard to international peace and natural resources. During the course of the conference a total of 50 presentations were given on the following major topical areas: The Nuclear Weapons Convention, consequences from the advisory opinion of the World Court of Justice, rethinking nuclear non-proliferation, how to draw further states into the nuclear disarmament process, next steps for nuclear disarmament and their verification, nuclear weapons free zones, ending nuclear weapons research and development, No-First-Use-Treaty, relations to arms control of conventional weapons, nuclear energy and non-proliferation in Asia, ballistic missile defence, counterproliferation and the future of the ABM treaty as well as future perspectives for the cut-off agreement. This was the first specific conference on nuclear weapons and delivery systems in China. The meeting of 47 experts from 14 countries was an opportunity to learn from each other across the cultures and to make friends. International participants acknowledged that the presentations and discussions helped them to get a better understanding of the people in China and especially of their position on nuclear disarmament related issues. 19 Chinese participants from 12 different institutions had the opportunity to hear foreign political positions and to argue with those who put them forward. The goal of a nuclear weapons free world was shared by all participants. Differences appeared with respect to specific ideas about how to arrive there. The experience of harmony was very encouraging for the future common work. It is hoped that this kind of work will continue. A number of conference participants sent a letter to President Bill Clinton expressing their deep concern that the subcritical tests and the huge "Stockpile Stewardship" program of which they are part of, are making it possible for the U.S. to continue modernising its nuclear arsenal, even under a CTBT. All participants of the INESAP 1997 Conference in Shanghai sent a greeting message to the International Conference on "Central Asia - Nuclear Weapon Free Zone", being held in Tashkent, September 14-16, 1997. They fully supported and endorsed the efforts of the people and governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to create a nuclear weapons free zone in Central Asia. Other conferences in 1997 with participation of INESAP Symposium on "Peace in Outer Space - The Ambivalence of Space Technology", March 20/21 at the Darmstadt University of Technology, coorganized together with the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space and other groups. The topics included weapons in space and the risks of using nuclear power for deep space missions as well as solar powered alternatives. First Preparatory Committee Meeting for the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2000, for two weeks in April in New York. Many instances were at stake, since it was the first meeting of the Parties to the Treaty after the unlimited and unconditional extension of the NPT two years before. Back then, it was concluded to significantly strengthen the review process. The vast majority of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) demands a definitive commencement of term- fixed negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention for the abolition of all nuclear weapons by the year 2000 in the network Abolition 2000. INESAP has substantially contributed to the organisation, the development of substantial discussions and the quality of the briefing program of the NGOs during this conference. The highlight of the Conference was marked by the presentation of a model for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (see above). INESAP organised together with IEER and WSLF the symposium "Treaties, Materials, and Verification Issues" on April 11. The main topics were the role of existing and new treaties in nuclear disarmament, the role of nuclear material control and disposition in disarmament as well as steps towards a NWFW and their verification. European NGO-Conference "Nuclear Weapons Free Europe. Visions for non-nuclear European Security" on June 13th -15th at the Peace Center Burg Schlaining, Austria. INESAP coorganised this conference together with IALANA, ipb, IPPNW, WILPF and PENN. INESAP contributed especially with a workshop on "Nuclear non-proliferation. Can Europe take the next step?" in order to evaluate the opportunity for European states to take the next non-proliferation step by improving the proliferation resistance of civilian nuclear technology, especially by identifying possibilities for reducing the availability of all kinds of weapons-usable nuclear materials. The goals of the conference included to present and discuss topical information central to peace and security in the OSCE region (and surrounding area), especially the future role of nuclear weapons, enlargement of NATO and WEU and their relation to CIS as well as the future role of the OSCE and alternative concepts and strategies for peace and security. As a result the Schlaining Manifesto was agreed by the organising NGOs and a European branch of the NGO network "Abolition 2000" was formed. A number of INESAP participants contributed to the 1997 Pugwash Conference in Lillehammer (1-7 August 1997), e.g. by introducing the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention. An international conference "From MTCR to ZBM - Emerging Techologies and ballistic missile proliferation in the Middle East" took place October 27-28, 1997 in Tel Aviv, Israel, with participation from INESAP. The conference was organized by Reuven Pedatzur, director of the newly founded Galili Center for Strategy and National Security, who is also involved in INESAP activities since its foundation. INESAP projects and activities INESAP supported the Abolition 2000 Global Network, in particular by convening the Working Group on the Nuclear Weapons Convention (Jürgen Scheffran) as well as the Working Group on nuclear-weapons-usable materials (Martin Kalinowski) and by sending a representative to the global strategy meeting on Moorea/Tahiti in the South Pacific in January 1997. The cut-off project "Breaking the deadlock - How can negotiations get started on effective international control of nuclear-weapon-usable materials?" was prepared in cooperation with IANUS and UNIDIR. A core group of liaisons in a dozen of countries was formed and contributed to the drafting of the proposal. All applications for funding of this project were rejected, mainly because of the political impasse with regard to this topic. The Middle East will be in the focus of INESAP activities in 1998. The newly founded Egypt Scientists Against Proliferation (ESAP) and the Coordinating Center for Arabic Peace Organizations started their regional activities including networking among scientists and engineers in the Middle East and educating them and the public. It was agreed in Shanghai to conduct a project that concentrates on security in the Middle East and prospects for a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in that region. The major cooperating partners are Ayman Khalil of CRACS (Center for Research on Arms Control and Security, Amman, Jordan), F.H. Hammad of ESAP and Reuven Pedatzur of the Galili Center for Strategic and National Security, Tel-Aviv, Israel. IANUS coordinated the preparation of a concept for coordinated research work on cooperative non-intrusive monitoring as well as policy development with regard to the goal of a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone. Within the regional activities Nuclear Weapon Free Zones (NWFZ) will play a major role. A group was formed in Shanghai that will organise a workshop on this topic in early 1999. The delivery systems working group continued its work and is planning a workshop and a publication. Funding Financial support in 1997 came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Plougshares Fund, the Berghof Foundation, and public funds of the State of Hesse and Darmstadt University of Technology given to IANUS, where the office and staff of INESAP is located. The office of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES) in Dortmund continues to support the work of INESAP, especially in respect to the Abolition 2000 Network. The amount of funding related to INESAP was around $180,000 in 1997, again a significant decrease in comparison to the preceding year. About half of this was made available through IANUS. However, financial prospects for 1998 are poor and indicate an even further shrinking budget. Selected publications The INESAP Information Bulletin, edited by Jürgen Scheffran, remains the main medium of INESAP for international communication. Three issues were produced in 1997 (No. 12 (March), 13 (July), 14 (November)). The special topical issues were "NATO expansion between START and Star Wars", "Control and disposition of nuclear weapons-usable materials", and "Searching for the bomb: Nuclear disarmament verification". The Ploughshares Fund approved a grant for dissemination of the INESAP Information Bulletin and for translation of excerpts into Arabic. INESAP published three Proceedings, edited by Martin Kalinowski: No. 1 Fissile Materials and Tritium: How to verify a comprehensive production cut-off and safeguard all stocks. Selected Papers of a Workshop on June 29/30, 1995 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, ISBN: 3-933071-00-3. No. 2 INESAP 1996 Conference: From Non-Proliferation towards a Nuclear-Weapon-Free-World. May 30 - June 2, 1996 in Gothenburg, Sweden, ISBN: 3-933071-01-1. No. 3 INESAP 1997 Conference: Challenges and Opportunities for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free-World. September 8 - 10, 1997 in Shanghai, China, ISBN: 3-933071-03-8. In 1997 INESAP started its Technical Report Series. It was proposed by André Gsponer (ISRI, Geneva), mainly because there is an urgent need for a peer reviewed publication series of scientific analyses on a professional level which deal with arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Its goal is to improve the quality of independent scientific knowledge on technical issues of importance for shaping new policy initiatives. Everybody is invited to submit reports to be reviewed for publication in this series. INESAP Technical Report No. 1 has been published in August 1997: André Gsponer, Jean-Pierre Hurni: "The Physical Principles of Thermonuclear Explosives, Inertial Confinement Fusion, and the Quest for Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons", 153 pages, 22 figures, 343 references and 2 tables, ISBN: 3-933071-02-X. Papers on the NWC prepared for the 47th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs in Lillehammer, Norway, 1-7 August 1997: Wolfgang Liebert: Prerequisites for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. Jürgen Scheffran: Content and verification of a Nuclear Weapons Convention. Martin Kalinowski: Prospects for a cut-off of weapons-usable materials. How to overcome the current deadlock between complete nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.