China
View country profileWhat has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle)?
What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle?
Sources
France
View country profileWhat has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle)?
The following agreements have been adopted to place relevant French installations under safeguards, according to the specificies of nuclear-weapon states:
- Voluntary Offer Agreement (VOA) between France, Euratom and the IAEA of July 27, 1978 (INFCIRC/290) in force since 12 September 1981
- Additional Protocol (AP) of 22 September 1998 (INFCIRC/290/Add.1) in force since 30 April 2004
- Safeguards Agreement for the Caribbean French territories of 21 March 2000 (INFCIRC/718) in force since 26 October 2007, together with the modifications on the Small Quantities Protocol of 17 September 2017, in force since 25 February 2019.
From 2013 to 2022, between 15 and 23 IAEA inspections were conducted annually on 17 eligible installations.
What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle?
In 2023 and 2024, the IAEA and the French government indicated that 10 inspections had taken place in France. Discussions are ongoing with the IAEA on the possibility of placing additional French civilian nuclear facilities to IAEA inspections.
Sources
EURATOM and IAEA Safeguards in France: Current Situation and Future Challenges, INMM ESARDA 2023 – Paper ID 237, 2023.
International safeguards implementation in France, Working paper submitted by France, NPT/CONF.2026/PC.III/WP.12, Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 4 March 2025, https://docs.un.org/en/NPT/CONF.2026/PC.III/WP.12
Russia
View country profileWhat has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle)?
As a nuclear-weapon state, Russia has a Voluntary Offer Agreement with the IAEA that allows the IAEA to apply safeguards to designated nuclear material within its civilian nuclear fuel cycle. The agreement entered into force in 1985.
What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle?
Russia has not communicated on further implementation of this action in the current review cycle.
Sources
The Text of the Agreement of 21 February 1985 Between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Agency for the Application of Safeguards in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, INFCIRC/327, 1 July 1985
https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/infcirc327.pdf
United Kingdom
View country profileWhat has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle)?
Although not required to do so under the NPT as a nuclear-weapon state, the UK concluded a Voluntary Offer Agreement and Additional Protocol with the IAEA, signed on 7 June 2018, replacing the existing trilateral arrangements between the IAEA, Euratom and the UK following the UK’s withdrawal from Euratom post-Brexit. These agreements ensure that IAEA safeguards continue to apply to all source or special fissionable material in UK civil nuclear facilities.
What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle?
The UK continues to support the universal adoption of the Additional Protocol and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement as the NPT verification standard.
In the UK, the ONR became responsible for operating the UK SSAC under the Nuclear Safeguards (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 on 1 January 2021, met all qualifying nuclear material accountancy reporting obligations, and facilitated IAEA inspections and equipment installation, ensuring that IAEA safeguards continue to be applied to all source or special fissionable material in UK civil nuclear activities.
Sources
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2018). UK nuclear safeguards on track for EU exit. 9 July. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-nuclear-safeguards-on-track-for-eu-exit
Statement by the United Kingdom (2025). Cluster II: Non-Proliferation. United Kingdom Delegation at the 2025 Preparatory Committee for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, 2 May.
Office for Nuclear Regulation (2021). Annual Report and Accounts 2020 to 2021. July. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/office-for-nuclear-regulation-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021/office-for-nuclear-regulation-annual-report-and-accounts-2020-to-2021
United States
View country profileWhat has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle)?
As a Nuclear Weapon State, the United States is not required to agree to a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. Instead, it maintains a Voluntary Offer Agreement and has signed the Additional Protocol.
What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle?
As a Nuclear Weapon State, the United States is not required to agree to a Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement. Instead, it maintains a Voluntary Offer Agreement and has signed the Additional Protocol.
Sources
N/A