Argentina

Introduction: Although Argentina never produced or used nuclear weapons, from the 1960s to 1990s, Argentina’s uranium-based nuclear program and its ballistic missile program were the source of international concern. This concern was mainly based on the stated intention of the Argentine government to build nuclear weapons, and to proliferate missile technologies to other countries. Moreover, Argentina refused to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) until February 1995, and its nuclear facilities were not covered by any safeguards agreement in the 1960s and 1970s.

control. A policy of rapprochement with Argentina’s regional rival Brazil led to the creation of a bilateral inspections body for nuclear materials and sites in both countries called the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC). Under pressure from the United States, the Argentine government began to dismantle its missile program in 1993 and joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), as well as various export control groups. The accession to the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1994 and the NPT in 1995 led to further adherence to international nonproliferation norms.

Source documents:

• Treaty of Tlatelolco, February 1967
• Argentine-Brazilian Declaration of Common Nuclear Policy, INFCIRC/388, December 1990
• Agreement between the Republic of Argentina and the Federative Republic of Brazil for the Exclusively Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy, July 1991
• Agreement between the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards (Quadripartite Agreement), INFCIRC/435, December 1991
• Declaration by the Presidents of the Republic of Argentina and the Federative Republic of Brazil on the 25th Anniversary of the Signing of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, February 1992
• Agreement Between the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), April 1994
• Communication Received From the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the International Atomic Energy Agency, INFCIRC/466, February 1995
• Cooperation Agreement Between the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM), October 1999
• 2000 NPT Review Conference Statement on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, April 2000
• 2000 NPT Review Conference Statement by Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), April 2000
• 2005 NPT Review Conference Opening Statement, H.E. Mr. Jorge Taiana, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Foreign Relations, May 2005
• 2005 NPT Review Conference Working Paper on multilateral nuclear fuel cycle arrangements May 2005