Curbing the spread of nuclear weaponsWith the 2005 Review Conference of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty in the background, this book provides a fully detailed but accessible and accurate introduction to the technical aspects of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons for the specialist and non-specialist alike. It considers nuclear weapons from varying perspectives, including the technology perspective, which views them as spillovers from nuclear energy programmes; and the theoretical perspective, which looks at the collision between national and international security – the security dilemma – involved in nuclear proliferation. It aims to demonstrate that international security is unlikely to benefit from encouraging the spread of nuclear weapons except in situations where the security complex is already largely nuclearised. |
From inside the book
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... important differences between the two routes. First, plutonium is a more difficult metal to handle and work – for one thing it is highly poisonous. Secondly, care has to be taken over its composition. Like uranium, plutonium occurs in a ...
... important difference concerns size. A small gas diffusion plant is possible but very uneconomic to run and impossible to scale up (the only alternative is to build a larger one). And yet even a small plant will be difficult to disguise ...
... important exception to this rule are states with large reserves of uranium ore that are aiming to improve the profitability of exploiting these reserves by enriching uranium before export. This explains the stated interest of Australia ...
... important 1970s deals were disrupted in the process. A sale to Pakistan of a French-supplied reprocessing plant did not in the end occur, but Pakistan built its own (unsafeguarded, as Pakistan then, as now, was not a party to the NPT) ...
... important as a nuclear weapons capability. Linked to this, states working on a covert bomb programme cannot be relied upon to do so in such a way as to maximise the chances of success in the eyes of a neutral observer. Some allowance ...
Contents
The International Atomic Energy Agency and safeguards | |
Understanding nuclearfree zones | |
United States policy on nonproliferation and the Nuclear Non | |
Bargaining for test ban treaties | |
A The Baruch Plan | |
B Atoms for Peace | |
Treaty of Tlatelolco documentation and texts | |
E Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean | |