Q&A: The U.N. and Nuclear Proliferation

CNN.com:

The following are extracts from an interview with Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), conducted by CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Here is an excerpt:

Amanpour: For the last many decades the NPT, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, has been in effect, and it essentially gives the countries who signed up the rights to explore nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Do you agree that there is problem now that any country including those with suspicious motives are allowed to use this?

ElBaradei: There is a problem, Christiane, things have changed since 1970, we have now realized the nuclear technology is spreading, that a country that could have access to plutonium is not far away from a nuclear weapon.

Amanpour: What is your solution?

ElBaradei: We need to make sure that every country in the future has, what we call, assurance of supply, that they have access to nuclear technology, for other application, but try to minimize the risk associated with that, by having an international consortium for example, producing the fuel and then take back the fuel again under international supervision.

Amanpour: So in other words, don't let them enrich their own uranium?

ElBaradei: Correct, no one county should enrich its own uranium.

Amanpour: You said this is all triggered by the Iran problem, the Russians have just said that they'll get back their spent-fuel for their Bushehr reactor, is that what you mean?

ElBaradei: That is basically what I mean; this is a microcosm of what we should have in future.

Amanpour: Is Iran agreeing to send back spent-fuel to the Russians?

ElBaradei: Yes, Iran agreed to send back the spent fuel to Russia, so this is a good beginning.

Amanpour: And yet in the last few days and weeks we see reports that they are buying centrifuges, that they are building tunnels, are they doing that, are they consciously trying to hide what they are doing from you still?

ElBaradei: I am not sure I can say they are trying to hide, what they are saying that... they are trying to protect the activities there has been talks, there has been talks that they might be subject to a military strike sot hey need to build tunnels to protect their equipment. They are fulfilling their legal obligation as I said there is a minor infraction here and there.

Amanpour: You have always said the U.S. needs to be on board in this effort that effort that the Europeans are trying to bring Iran to book by dialog, are you satisfied that now the U.S. is now on board and doing enough?

ElBaradei: I think it is a very good step in the right direction I'd like hopefully to see the United States, as things move forward, to be fully engaged but clearly this is a sea-change for me because I was not at all optimistic that things could work without the U.S. engagement, and to have them now engaged, to have now to see President Bush and Secretary Rice saying they are actively supporting the European initiative, I think it is very a welcome step.

Amanpour: Hasn't the U.S. just raised the possibility of WTO and other such things and the Iranians have laughed at it, that said they must be hallucinating, what's going on here?

ElBaradei: Well, this part of the negotiation, I think the U.S. is saying we are ready to lift the band on joining the WTO, we are ready to provide you spare parts, basically the Iranians are saying this is not enough. We need to make sure that the process continues and it is not derailed, that to me is the most important, as long as the parties are talking we are on the right track.

Amanpour: Senator Nunn, has said at least in the '94 agreement, between the U.S. and North Korea, at least the U.S. knew where the nuclear material was, it was in the storage place in the reactor, in the Pyongyang reactor area, now does anybody know where it is?

ElBaradei: We have no clue and that is why when people sometimes grumble about our slow pace in Iran, I would like them to compare that situation with North Korea, in Iran we are active we are generating information and we know what going on more or less, in Korea it is an absolutely black hole.

Amanpour: Do you think they could be making nuclear bombs right now?

ElBaradei: It is not at all excluded because they have that plutonium that they can readily use into nuclear weapon, they have the industrial infrastructure, but more importantly they said they are doing it. So based on our technical assessment we see no technical barrier that they could be able or have already nuclear weapon. ...

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