Research Design: Items -- Excerpt from the Hiroshima Report 2012

Items for study, analysis and evaluation of the selected countries’ performance are built mainly upon the following documents that reflect views with wide support on the issues of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear security. Items are also chosen with the aim of providing a certain degree of objective measurements for evaluation.

Ø  The Action Plan and recommendations pertaining to the implementation of the 1995 Middle East resolution contained in the Final Document adopted in the 2010 NPT Review Conference;

Ø  Seventy-six recommendations contained in the 2009 International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) report titled “Eliminating Nuclear Threats: A Practical Agenda for Global Policymakers”;

Ø  Proposals sponsored or co-sponsored by Japan at the 2012 NPT Preparatory Committee (PrepCom); and

Ø  “Resolution towards the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons” launched by the Mayors for Peace in 2011.

A number of measures have been proposed internationally on nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and nuclear security issues. Among them, the 64-point Action Plan contained in the Final Document adopted by consensus at the 2010 NPT Review Conference is certainly one of the most important reflecting the commitment of the 190 states parties to the NPT. The Action Plan, however, is a result of compromise and bargaining needed to reach a consensus, and does not necessarily contain strong and clearly stated measures for action. Thus, the Research Committee of this project described below decided to refer to the three other documents mentioned above in tandem with the 64-point Action Plan. The three additional sources fit with the project’s intent to contribute to Hiroshima’s and Japan’s efforts to lay out “the roadmap for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”

The following items were selected for measuring countries’ performances.
l   Nuclear disarmament

Ø  The status of nuclear forces (estimates)

Ø  Commitment to achieve a world without nuclear weapons

Ø  The reduction of nuclear weapons

Ø  Diminishing the role and significance of nuclear weapons in the national security strategies and policies

Ø  De-alerting or measures for maximizing decision time to authorize the use of nuclear weapons

Ø  CTBT and nuclear tests

Ø  FMCT

Ø  Transparency in nuclear forces, fissile material for nuclear weapons, and nuclear strategy/doctrine

Ø  Verification of nuclear weapons reductions

Ø  Irreversibility

Ø  Disarmament and non-proliferation education and cooperation with civil society

l   Nuclear non-proliferation

Ø  Acceptance and compliance with the nuclear non-proliferation obligations under the NPT and nuclear-weapon-free zone treaties

Ø  IAEA safeguards

Ø  Cooperation with the IAEA

Ø  Implementing appropriate export controls on nuclear-related items and technologies

Ø  Transparency in the peaceful use of nuclear energy

l   Nuclear security

Ø  Amount of fissile material

Ø  Accession to and participation in multilateral frameworks regarding nuclear security/safety and the establishment of the national implementation system

Ø  Efforts to maintain the highest possible standards of nuclear security/safety