Marco Marzo

Introduction

The Argentine Republic and the Federative Republic of Brazil together constitute a region in South America that covers more than 11.2 million square kilometers and is populated by about 200 million inhabitants. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region has risen to over $1,000 billion, approximately 55% of the GDP of Latin America and the Caribbean, although its population accounts for only 35% of this geographical area. Both countries, together with Uruguay and Paraguay, belong to the Mercosur South American Common Market, which has been in operation for the last 14 years.

Nuclear cooperation between Argentina and Brazil began during the 1960s and remains in full force today. Although their cooperation was not as complete as it might have been during the 1960s and 1970s, it nevertheless grew stronger after 1980, when political conditions established by the resolution of controversies concerning the use of water resources led to the signing of an Agreement on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the two countries. The implementation of this Agreement proposes joint development in various fields of nuclear energy, including the production of radioisotopes by cyclotron, the development of isotopic standards, radiological protection and nuclear safety, and the recycling of fuel elements.

As a natural outcome of this cooperation and of the wish to make their nuclear programs transparent, many commitments to the exclusively peaceful uses of nuclear energy have been undertaken by both nations. These commitments were formulated in various joint declarations on nuclear policy by the Presidents of Brazil and Argentina: Foz de Iguassu, 1985; Brasilia, 1986; Viedma, 1987; Iperó, 1988; Ezeiza, 1988; and the Joint Statements of Buenos Aires and Foz de Iguassu, 1990. The policies outlined in these declarations finally led to signature of a Bilateral Agreement on the Exclusively Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy on 18 July 1991. This Bilateral Agreement entered into force on 12 December of the same year, after ratification by the Congresses of both countries. (It should be noted that said ratification implies its promulgation under force of law as established under the Agreement, and that this law imposes mandatory common compliance of both countries.) The Bilateral Agreement sets up the Common System of Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (SCCC) and the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC).

On the basis of this Bilateral Agreement, a Quadripartite Safeguards Agreement was signed in December 1991 by the Republic of Argentina, the Federative Republic of Brazil, the ABACC, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA or the Agency). This Agreement is a comprehensive safeguards agreement and entered into force in March 1994 after its ratification by the Congresses of both countries.

In May 1994, the two countries brought into force the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established a nuclear-weapons-free-zone in Latin America. Argentina and Brazil joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in February 1995 and July 1998, respectively. The Quadripartite Agreement was considered valid by the IAEA for complying with NPT requirements.

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