Technical Aspects Of Nuclear Nonproliferation

Nuclear Nonproliferation: The Spent Fuel Problem examines the debate concerning the storage of spent fuel generated by nuclear reactors and its implications for nuclear nonproliferation efforts. Potential barriers to the establishment or expansion of national storage facilities for spent fuel are discussed, along with alternatives. This book covers a broad spectrum of possible multinational and international arrangements for spent fuel management, ranging from relatively benign international oversight of national facilities to arrangements for bilateral and regional cooperation, and even the creation of entirely new international institutional mechanisms. The technical, economic, political, and legal aspects of managing spent fuel are explored, paying particular attention to Eastern Europe, Western Europe, the Indian Ocean Basin, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Public attitudes toward nuclear energy, especially with regard to the issue of radioactive waste disposal, are also considered. The final chapter looks at the political aspects of nuclear nonproliferation in general and of spent fuel management in particular. This monograph will be of interest to government officials and policymakers concerned with nuclear energy and nonproliferation.

The author focuses on the critical developments, technological in particular, which are currently posing a threat to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Crucial technologies affecting nuclear weapon proliferation and their potential ramifications for the nuclear non-proliferation regimes as a whole are examined and potential policy options which could ameliorate or eliminate the resulting dangers are analysed and assessed. Developments and problems raised by the Iraqi and North Korean nuclear programmes receive special attention. In particular, recent efforts in strengthening export control regulations on nuclear and dual-use technology and equipment and in improving nuclear safeguards are described and their impact analysed. Of lasting relevance in the non-proliferation context, this book is of particular relevance in the light of the indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has the dual role of promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and verifying that nuclear materials under its supervision are not diverted to military purposes (safeguards). Since 1958, in promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through its technical cooperation program, IAEA has provided technical assistance to its member states by supplying equipment, expert services, and training that support the upgrading or establishment of nuclear techniques and facilities. Although the United States does not receive technical assistance, it has been the leading financial donor to IAEA'5 technical cooperation program. In March 1997, we reported to you on IAEA's technical assistance for Cuba, including assistance for the partially completed Cuban nuclear power reactors whose construction is suspended. As requested, this report examines (1) the purpose and effectiveness of IAEA's technical cooperation program, (2) the cost of U.S. participation in IAEA'5 technical cooperation program, and (3) whether the United States ensures that the activities of IAEA's technical cooperation program do not conflict with U.S. nuclear nonproliferation and safety goals.

A key mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is promoting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy through its Technical Cooperation (TC) program, which provides equipment, training, fellowships, and other services to its member states. The U.S. provides approx. 25% of the TC program's annual budget. This report addresses the: (1) extent to which the U.S. and IAEA have policies limiting member states' participation in the TC program on the basis of nuclear proliferation and related concerns; (2) extent to which the U.S. and IAEA evaluate and monitor TC projects for proliferation concerns; and (3) any limitations and challenges in IAEA's mgmt. of the TC program. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.

With 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. The political constraints on nuclear spread as solutions to the security dilemma are also examined in three linked categories, including an unusually full discussion of the phenomenon of nuclear-free zones, with particular emphasis on the zone covering Latin America. The remarkably consistent anti-proliferation policies of the USA from Baruch to Bush are debated and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty itself, with special attention paid to the international atomic energy’s safeguards system is frankly appraised.