ABSTRACT
Agreements providing for the construction of research reactors and/or the training of nuclear technicians by Argentina have already been signed with Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Argentina has signed but not yet ratified the Treaty of Tlatelolco, though in 1978, at the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Admiral Montes declared Argentina’s intention to ratify the Treaty. An aspect of the Treaty of Tlatelolco which has given rise to a serious controversy concerns so-called peaceful nuclear explosions. Argentina has reserved the right to conduct such explosions under Article 18 of this Treaty. Opinion in Argentina is divided as regards ratification of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. Some people consider it necessary that before ratifying the Treaty Argentina should conclude a safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency which would take account of the allowance for exploding nuclear devices for peaceful purposes.
