Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferationDisarmament of Nuclear Weapons
For more than 40 years, the world existed under the danger of a nuclear apocalypse. In 1989, the falling of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the end of Soviet Communism. The nuclear “Armageddon” seemed to be postponed. No longer are two major nuclear powers locked in a nuclear standoff. But now several nations possess nuclear capabilities. Six years after the end of the Cold War, and a half-century past the dropping of the atomic bombs, the world is embarking into a new, more dangerous era where the threat of nuclear war is greater than ever.
The Nuclear Control Institute says “the year 2000 will mark a turning point in human history, when more atom-bomb material begins circulating in civilian commerce than exists in nuclear weapons.” The material is weapons-usable plutonium produced in civilian reactors that generate electricity for cities, rather than military reactors that make material for weapons. The nuclear industry soon will introduce civilian plutonium on the world market as a commercial fuel. A tiny fraction of this material is needed to build a nuclear weapon. Commerce with this material is very dangerous because of the ease with which it can be made into nuclear weapons. Something can be done about this problem. Plutonium is an essential weapons material, but it is not a needed reactor fuel. Uranium, a low grade that cannot be used in weapons, is an inexpensive fuel that keeps power reactors operating. The NCI states that at the present rate the amount of plutonium by 2010 will be twice the amount now contained in the world’s nuclear arsenals. If something isn’t done, nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism will become a principal danger of our time.
The fact that nuclear weapons research and development continues, the problem will continue. In the US, the annual budget for weapons is about $4.5 billion. The Indecent Explosives: Statistics on Current Nuclear Weapons States notes that the US has 7,300 suspected strategic nuclear weapons and between 4,700 and 11,700 suspected non-strategic nuclear weapons. The Toronto Star reported that the US is now spending more than it did during the cold war on the preservation of its nuclear war machine. Critics say that money used for these weapons carry the seed of a new global arms race. The United States has to take the lead and realize that nuclear weapons will not bring peace. The funds that go into these weapons can be used for more beneficial purposes that help people not destroy them.
The traditional five nations that make up the nuclear club are Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States. Today the nuclear scene has changed. India, Pakistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Israel, and Libya all are suspected of having nuclear programs. The Indecent Explosives: Statistics on Current Nuclear Weapons States notes that Israel has 100 suspected strategic nuclear weapons. Nuclear proliferation experts believe the real threat comes from the growing number of countries whose leaders want to have their finger on the nuclear trigger. Governments must learn that nuclear weapons aren’t the answer.
A US Army General once said, “We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.” The possession and use of nuclear weapons is ethically wrong. When men are equipped with nuclear weapons, they can do worse than injure their fellowmen, they can annihilate them.