THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY AND NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION TREATY Exam

Click “next” to start the exam. Only one possible answer for each question.

Created on October 17, 2023

The NPT

1 / 12

When negotiations on the NPT first began, which of the following was considered a strategic nuclear threat?

A. Catalytic wars

B. Accidental authorization of weapons launches

C. Unauthorized initiation of nuclear hostilities

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

2 / 12

The Irish Resolution put forth by Frank Aiken outlined the concepts that were later incorporated into the NPT as:

A. Articles I, II, and III

B. Articles IV and V

C. Article VI

D. Article X

E. Articles VII, VIII, and IX

3 / 12

The theory that smaller nations could protect themselves from larger nuclear powers by acquiring a small nuclear arsenal of their own is known as:

A. Mutually Assured Destruction

B. Horizontal Proliferation

C. Limited Deterrence

D. Finite Deterrence

4 / 12

Under the NPT, nonweapons states have an “inalienable right” to

A. Peaceful nuclear explosives

B. Nuclear fuel making

C. Peaceful nuclear energy

D. Only small research reactors

E. All of the above

5 / 12

The way in which we now view Article V of the NPT demonstrates that:

A. The NPT can be reinterpreted

B. Activities virtually indistinguishable from bomb making are too dangerous to be considered peaceful

C. Rights to clearly unbeneficial nuclear activities are unlikely to be insisted upon

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

6 / 12

The most restrictive interpretation of Article IV’s “inalienable right to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes” is subject to the NPT restriction that:

A. Nuclear weapons states should not transfer control over or assist or encourage in any way states that lack nuclear weapons to acquire them

B. States that lack nuclear weapons should not receive nuclear weapons directly or indirectly or make or receive help making them

C. All peaceful nuclear activities and materials must be subject to safeguards capable of preventing military diversions

D. All of the above

7 / 12

The least restrictive interpretation of Article IV’s “inalienable right to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes” that:

A. Countries have a right to engage in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle

B. Countries can make nuclear explosives so long as they are clear assurances that the explosives are being used for civilian, non-military, purposes

C. Countries can engage in any nuclear activity so long as they are occasionally safeguarded by international, or in the case of Euratom by multi-lateral, inspectors and can be justified as being for some non-military, non-explosive purpose

D. All of the above

8 / 12

Frank Aiken justified his original formulation in 1958 and 1959 for the Irish Resolution for reasons that included:

A. It was more urgent to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons than to force the superpowers to disarm

B. A neighbor’s mere possession of nuclear weapons was provocative and likely to encourage either more proliferation or acts of war

C. It was imperative to impose a ban on nuclear testing for all countries

D. A and B

E. B and C

9 / 12

What nuclear activities did Foreign Minister Frank Aiken consider to be potentially perilously close to bomb-making?

A. Large power reactors

B. Nuclear fuel-making activities

C. Small research reactors

D. A and B

E. All of the above

10 / 12

After 1961 and the Swedish Resolution, what was considered to be the primary nuclear weapons worry?

A. Horizontal proliferation

B. The military diversion of civilian nuclear activities and materials

C. The ever-escalating nuclear arms race between the superpowers quantitatively and the increasing number of nuclear weapons systems placed on hair-trigger alert

D. None of the above

11 / 12

The premises of the Swedish Resolution differed from those of the Irish Resolution by implicitly assuming that:

A. Nations had a natural right to self-defense and therefore to acquire nuclear weapons

B. The benefits of civilian nuclear energy were critical to countries’ economic development

C. Nonweapons states needed to be compensated for foregoing the acquisition of nuclear weapons

D. A and B

E. All of the above

12 / 12

The three pillars view of the NPT:

A. Was a compromise essential to getting final agreement to the NPT in 1968

B. Was only recently adopted by the United States

C. Is no longer articulated by US officials

D. A and C

E. B and C

Your score is

The average score is 52%