The 64 Actions refers to the action plan contained in the Final Document of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), held in New York from 3–28 May 2010. Adopted by consensus, it remains the most detailed agreed roadmap ever produced under the NPT framework and is structured around the treaty's three pillars plus a fourth section on the Middle East.
The plan is divided as follows:
- Actions 1–22 on nuclear disarmament, including reaffirmation of the "unequivocal undertaking" by nuclear-weapon states (first agreed in 2000) to eliminate their arsenals, calls for accelerated reductions, diminished role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines, and engagement on negative security assurances.
- Actions 23–46 on non-proliferation, promoting universalisation of the IAEA Additional Protocol, strengthened safeguards, export controls, and responses to non-compliance.
- Actions 47–64 on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including support for IAEA technical cooperation and assurances of fuel supply.
A separate section endorsed convening a 2012 conference on a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other WMD, with the UN Secretary-General and the three NPT depositaries (US, UK, Russia) as conveners and Finland's Jaakko Laajava appointed facilitator. That conference was never held, and the failure to implement the Middle East provisions contributed to the collapse of consensus at the 2015 RevCon and again at the 2022 RevCon, where Russia blocked the final document.
The 64 Actions are frequently invoked by non-nuclear-weapon states and the Non-Aligned Movement as a benchmark against which to measure the disarmament obligations of the P5 under Article VI of the treaty.
Example
At the 2015 NPT Review Conference, Egypt and other Arab states cited the unimplemented Middle East provisions of the 2010 64 Actions as grounds for refusing to join consensus on a final document.
Frequently asked questions
They were adopted by consensus on 28 May 2010 as part of the Final Document of the NPT Review Conference held in New York.
Keep learning