A treaty on fissile material

The Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FM(C)T) shall limit or reduce the quantities of fissile material for nuclear weapons. The Conference of Disarmament was expected to negotiate this treaty but it has been deadlocked since 1996. As all of its decisions are made by consensus, it has been impossible to kick off the negotiations. In this report, Annette Schaper describes the significance of an FM(C)T, its most important elements and the major areas of contention. She concludes with deliberations on the prospects of progress and suggestions of how to get out of the impasse.