Reports
Myanmar to Sign Additional Protocol
by David Albright and Andrea Stricker
September 16, 2013
In a positive development among many recent actions to improve its ties with the international community, Reuters reported on September 16 that the government of Myanmar (Burma) will this week sign the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreements. The move comes nearly one year after President of Myanmar Thein Sein announced in November 2012, ahead of a historic visit by President Barack Obama, that Myanmar would sign the agreement. The agreement will facilitate the IAEA’s wider access for nuclear-related inspections and additional information about activities of concern.
This development should be lauded as a promising step taken by Myanmar to address international concerns about rumored nuclear activities, suspicious procurements, and cooperation with North Korea on nuclear proliferation. Myanmar should continue along this path and end any remaining military cooperation with North Korea in order to come into full compliance with United Nations resolutions and international norms. It should grant the IAEA access to any information it requires to clear its nuclear case.
Read ISIS’s coverage of past nuclear proliferation concerns in Myanmar here.
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