Just what we need: U.S. Proposes New Nuclear Weapons Treaty

GENEVA (AP) -- The United States proposed a treaty Thursday it said would curb proliferation of nuclear weapons and improve the world's leverage against "hard cases" like Iran and North Korea by banning production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium.

Stephen G. Rademaker, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for arms control, told the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament that it should aim to approve a treaty by September.

He said current measures to prevent terrorists and governments from developing weapons of mass destruction may be insufficient "in the case of governments that are absolutely determined to acquire such weapons."

Rademaker said Iran was "an obvious case in point," and that the Islamic republic and North Korea were "the hard cases."

The proposal contains no verification measures and stockpiles of fissile material would not be affected, allowing existing nuclear powers to build weapons with their reserves.

And with Iran and North Korea accused by Washington of flouting current international accords on nuclear weapons development, Rademaker did not specify how the United States thought the new agreement would help.

In Washington, Wade Boese, research director at the private Arms Control Association, said the United States, Russia, France and Britain already have officially declared they have stopped production for nuclear weapons and China is understood to have done so as well.
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