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Spain and the Non-Proliferation Treaty

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A Survey of European Nuclear Policy, 1985–87

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Abstract

Nearly 19 years after the signing of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in July 1968, and 17 years after its entry into force in March 1970, Spain has finally taken a bold step forward on the path of non-proliferation. In February 1987, on the occasion of the parliamentary debate on ‘The State of the Nation’, the President of the Spanish government, Mr Felipe Gonzalez, officially announced Spain’s accession to the NPT.

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Notes

  1. See Remiro BrotOns, Antonio, ‘Espana y el Tratado de No ProliferaciOn Nuclear (TNP)’, Sistema 66, Revista de Ciencias Sociales, May 1985, p. 52. The NPT consolidated what Remiro BrotOns called an ‘atomic aristocracy’.

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  2. Angel Vinas, ‘Spain’, in Jozef Goldblat (ed.), Non-Proliferation: The Why and the Wherefor? (London: Taylor and Francis for Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 1985), pp. 161–2.

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  3. Remiro Brotóns, Antonio, ‘Espana y el TNP’, p. 54.

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  4. This clause contained the following: ‘United States’ forces may make use of the areas and facilities situated in Spanish territory as bases for action against military objectives, in such manner as may be necessary for the defence of the West, provided that, when this situation arises, both countries communicate to each other, with the maximum urgency, their information and intentions’. In Angel Vinas, Los Pactos Secretos de Franco con Estados Unidos, Grijalbo, Barcelona, 1981.

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  5. Several newspapers and reviews published articles on this subject, among others: ‘Espana y el Fantasma de la Bomba Atómica’, Blanco y Negro, March 1980; ‘Cara Inservible y Peligrosa’, Mundo Obrero, April 1980; ‘La Bomba AtOmica que nos legó el Franquismo’, Actual, No. 7, 20 April 1982; and ‘La Tentación de la Bomba’, El Pais, 1 February 1987.

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  6. Vinas, op. cit., p. 164.

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  7. Katlyn Saba, ‘Spanish Foreign Policy Decision-Making Process’, The International Spectator, no. 4, vol. xxi, October—December 1986, p. 26.

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  8. Boletfn Oficial de las Cortes Generales, Congreso de los Diputados, II Legislatura, SesiOn Plenaria del 1 de diciembre de 1982, No. 4.

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  9. Vinas, op. cit., p. 166.

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  10. Comisión de Asuntos Exteriores del Congreso de los Diputados, sesión informativa del 18 de febrero de 1983, No. 11.

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  11. El Pais, 20 December 1983, p. 17.

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  12. The agreement reached by the Spanish Parliament in 1981, whereby it authorised the government to negotiate Spain’s integration into the Atlantic Alliance, was followed by a near-unanimous resolution approved by the Chamber. According to this resolution, during the subsequent negotiations with NATO, the government would not accept any commitment that would imply the storage or deployment of the Alliance’s nuclear weapons on Spanish territory. The last paragraph adds that any further decision on this issue necessarily requires the prior authorisation of the Parliament.

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  13. El Pais, 24 October 1984.

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  14. According to this newspaper, the political will to produce atomic bombs does not exist, as unanimous votes of the Parliament have proved to be against this choice. On the other hand it points out that Spain’s NPT membership could contribute to declaring the Iberian Peninsula a region without nuclear weapons. El Pais, 17 December 1983.

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  15. El Pais, 8 January 1985.

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  16. Vinas, op. cit., p. 167.

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  17. Rafael Grasa Hernández, ‘Espana y el Tratado de No-Proliferación Nuclear: datos para una polemica’, in Papeles para la Paz, no. 3, Centro de Investigaciones para la Paz, pp. 11–14.

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  18. Vinas, op. cit.

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  19. In this regard Angel Vinas states ‘these bargaining chips and deterrent factors, though rarely made explicit, now appear to be the main arguments for not joining the NPT’, op. cit.

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  20. ‘El Juego de las Armas’, El Pais, 3 February 1987, p. 3.

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  21. Harald Muller, ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of NPT Membership’, paper presented at the seminar on the Non-Proliferation Treaty held in Madrid by the Fundación de Estudios sobre la Paz y Las Relaciones Internacionales, Madrid, and the Istituto Affari Internazionali, Rome, in March 1987, p. 3.

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  22. La Industria Nuclear Espanola (Madrid: Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Forum Atómico Espanol, June 1986), p. 5.

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  23. Ibid., p. 3.

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  24. In the case of Lemoniz I and II, political considerations rather than economic ones, have led to the freezing of these units. As mentioned previously, terrorist attacks were directed against them, forcing their closure.

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  25. Two plants are in commercial operation today: the Saelices plant in Salamanca and the La Haba plant in Badajoz, which operates at a low production level.

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  26. ‘Investing in U and Waste Management’, Nuclear News, April 1986, p. 86.

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  27. ‘Spain joins the world’s light water reactor fuel vendors’, Nuclear Engineering International, June 1986, p. 33.

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  28. E. Ciro Zoppo, ‘Spain as an Emerging Nuclear Supplier’, in William G. Potter (ed.), The Emerging Nuclear Suppliers and Nuclear Non-Proliferation, forthcoming. The author also points out that ENUSA has offered — and probably provided — fuel-fabrication services to Mexico, though the bids were made jointly with Westinghouse and General Electric.

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  29. Luz y Fuerza, January—February 1985, p. 46.

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  30. ABC, 9 June 1987.

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  31. Zoppo, ‘Spain as an Emerging Nuclear Supplier’, pp. 11–12.

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  32. Ibid., p. 17.

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  33. Ibid., p. 16.

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  34. Spain has other co-operation agreements with developed countries such as the United States, France, West Germany and Italy.

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  35. SENER, Energy (Vizcaya: Las Arenas, 1984), pp. 2, 3, and 8, and Zoppo, ‘Spain as an Emerging Nuclear Supplier’, p. 11.

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  36. Zoppo, ‘Spain as an Emerging Nuclear Supplier’, p. 13.

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  37. Ibid., p.-13.

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  38. Luz y Fuerza, January—February 1985, p. 48.

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  39. Interviews with Ministry officials.

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Authors
  1. Katlyn Sabá
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Germany

    Harald Müller (Formerly Senior Research Fellow) (Formerly Senior Research Fellow)

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© 1989 Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels

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Sabá, K. (1989). Spain and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In: Müller, H. (eds) A Survey of European Nuclear Policy, 1985–87. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10813-8_10

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