CHRONOLOGY 2010

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FEBRUARY 2010


2010.02.03    Wednesday
The UK Ministry of Defense today presented to Parliament the ‘green paper’ “Adaptability and Partnership: Issues for the Strategic Defense Review” [Cm 7794].]

•  United Kingdom. Ministry of Defense. Cm 7794. Full text. 2010.02.03.



MARCH 2010



APRIL 2010

2010.04.06    Tuesday
On 6 April 2010 the US Department of Defense issued the “2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report.” The NPR “outlines the Administration’s approach to promoting the President’s agenda for reducing nuclear dangers and pursuing the goal of a world without nuclear weapons ... ”

•  United States. Department of Defense. 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report. 2010 Nuclear Posture Review Report. 2010.04.06.

2010.04.08    Thursday
In Prague, on 8 April 2010, Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed the ‘New START’ treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.

•  United States. Department of State. Full text of New START treaty. Full text of Protocol. 2010.04.08.

2010.04.12-13    Monday-Tuesday
The Nuclear Security Summit convened by the United States met in Washington 12-13 April 2010. Participants

“Reaffirm the fundamental responsibility of States, consistent with their respective international obligations, to maintain effective security of all nuclear materials, which includes nuclear materials used in nuclear weapons, and nuclear facilities under their control; to prevent non-state actors from obtaining the information or technology required to use such material for malicious purposes; and emphasize the importance of robust national legislative and regulatory frameworks for nuclear security ... ”

An associated work plan sets out guidance.

•  Nuclear Security Summit. Communiqué.
•  Nuclear Security Summit. Work Plan
•  Nuclear Security Summit. Highlights of national commitments.
•  Nuclear Security Summit. White House cover page.



MAY 2010

2010.05.03-28    Monday 3rd - Friday 28th
The 2010 NPT Review Conference is scheduled to meet in New York 3-28 May 2010. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) requires a review conference every five years. Participants are states adhering to the NPT, represented by their designated officials. Only Israel, Pakistan, and India have failed to adhere to the NPT; North Korea has declared itself withdrawn. This is a formal governmental conference to which states may make binding commitments.

This is a preliminary entry calling attention to sources issued prior to the opening of the Review Conference, and sites on which conference documents and the ongoing ACRONYM coverage will be posted.

•  United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) 3-28 May 2010. Includes links to conference documents and other papers.

•  Arms Control Association. ACA 2010 RevCon resource page.

•  James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and Mountbatten Centre for International Studies. The 2010 NPT Briefing Book.

•  James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. The 2010 NPT RevCon resource page.

•  ACRONYM Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy. The 2010 NPT RevCon index page. ACRONYM coverage will include a blog from the RevCon.




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JULY 2010



AUGUST 2010



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NOVEMBER 2010



DECEMBER 2010

CHRONOLOGY 2011

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

JANUARY 2011



FEBRUARY 2011



2011.02.05    Saturday
The New START treaty entered into force on 5 February 2011. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov exchanged the instruments of ratification in Munich.



•  US Department of State. Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance. “New START”. 2011.02.05. This page contains links to the treaty text and other documents, including the US and Russian unilateral statements (interpretations and conditions). To reach links to the components of the treaty (text, protocol, and three annexes go to Treaty Text [Links] or the citations below.

•  US Department of State. New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). TEXT. Signed 2010.04.08. Ratified 2011.02.05. Entry Into Force (EIF) 2011.02.05.
•  US Department of State. New START Treaty. Annex on Inspection Activities. 2010.04.08.
•  US Department of State. New START Treaty. Annex on Notifications. 2010.04.08.
•  US Department of State. New START Treaty. Annex on Telemetric Activities. 2010.04.08.
•  US Department of State. Fact Sheet and Chronology. 2011.-02.05.
•  US Department of State. Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation. Fact Sheet. “Central Warhead and Delivery Vehicle Limits of the New START Treaty”. 2010.04.08.



MARCH 2011



2011.03.11    Friday
As a consequence of an earthquake and tsunami in the early afternoon, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, on Japan’s Atlantic coast, began to lose integrity. In the hours and days that followed efforts to control a reactor and spent fuel ponds failed. Dangerous radioactive isotopes contaminated the region around the plant, and there was significant run of contaminated water into the nearby ocean.

Some states reconsidered whether to build planned nuclear plants. Nuclear regulators throughout the world focused on existing and proposed nuclear plant designs. Prior projections of reliance on nuclear to generate electricity, avoiding greenhouse gas emissions, were immediately in doubt. A series of studies documented design and response failures, but as parts of the plant remained inaccessible such studies were not the last word. Press reports suggested it might take 40 years before the plant was thoroughly decommissioned and the site abandoned.

•  On the dribble of increasingly grave reports, see for example The New York Times, Hiroko Tabuchi and Keith Bradsher, “Japan Says 2nd Reactor May Have Ruptured With Radioactive Release,” 15 March 2011.
•  Executive Summary of the “Interim Report of the Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations of Tokyo Electric Power Company,” http://icanps.go.jp/eng/, 26 December 2011. [As of 2 January 2012 an English translation of the full Interim Report had not been posted.]
•  Hiroko Tabuchi, “Japan Panel Cites Failure in Tsunami,” The New York Times, 26 December 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/world/asia/
report-condemns-japans-response-to-nuclear-accident.html



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