Separated Plutonium: Threats and Prospects

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison M. Macfarlane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Mixed Oxide ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
International Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Weapons Grade Plutonium ◽  
Total Stock

Abstract Nuclear weapons reductions have resulted in 34 metric tons of declared excess weapons-grade plutonium in both the United States and Russia. To deal with this material both countries recently signed an agreement to disposition 68 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Stocks of separated plutonium have been growing in the European, Russian, and Japanese nuclear energy complexes due to the failure of the breeder reactor, the high cost of using the material as mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, and political opposition to use of the material. The total stock of separated civilian reactor-grade plutonium is 200 metric tons. Not only does separated plutonium pose a threat to international security, but also over the long run it poses a hazard to the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to select a disposition method that is both proliferation resistant and will perform well over the millennia in a repository.

Stopping the Bomb

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
International Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Selective Approach ◽  
Credible Threat ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

This book examines the historical development and effectiveness of US efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Drawing on hundreds of declassified documents, the first part of the book shows how the anticipation of nuclear domino effects in the 1960s and 1970s led the United States to strengthen its nonproliferation policy, moving from a selective approach—which was relatively permissive toward allies acquiring nuclear weapons—and toward a more universal policy that opposed proliferation across the board. Most notably, Washington spearheaded the establishment of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968 and adopted sanctions legislation in the late 1970s that credibly threatened to cut off support to countries seeking nuclear weapons. The second part of the book analyzes how effective these policies have been in limiting the spread of nuclear weapons. Statistical analysis suggests that a credible threat of sanctions has deterred countries dependent on the United States from even starting nuclear weapons programs over the last several decades. Meanwhile, in-depth case studies of French, Taiwanese, Pakistani, and Iranian nuclear activities illustrate the conditions under which sanctions succeed against ongoing nuclear weapons programs. The findings hold important implications for international security and nonproliferation policy.

scholarly journals Russia's Nuclear Weapons in a Multipolar World: Guarantors of Sovereignty, Great Power Status & More

Daedalus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 149 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Anya Loukianova Fink ◽  
Olga Oliker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
International Security ◽  
Arms Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Missile Defense ◽  
Security Environment ◽  
Strategic Stability

At a time of technological and political change in the international security environment, Russia continues to view nuclear weapons as guarantors of peace and security among great powers. Nuclear weapons also assure Russia's own great-power status and mitigate uncertainty in an emerging multipolar order. In a world where the United States pursues improved missile defense capabilities and appears to reject mutual vulnerability as a stabilizing factor, Moscow views its modernized nuclear arsenal as essential to deter Washington from a possible attack on Russia or coercive threats against it. Some elites in Russia would like to preserve existing arms control arrangements or negotiate new ones to mitigate a weakening infrastructure of strategic stability. At the same time, however, they seem skeptical that the United States is willing to compromise or deal with Russia as an equal. Meanwhile, multilateral arms control appears to be too complex a proposition for the time being.

Pakistan army unlikely to see internal Islamist coup

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
International Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
September 11 ◽  
Officer Corps ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Terrorist Groups ◽  
Western Media

Subject Risk of an Islamist coup with the Pakistan military. Significance Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, Western media and policymakers have been concerned about an Islamist coup within the Pakistan military. Given the army's exclusive control over nuclear weapons, an internal rebellion by radical sections of the officer corps could jeopardise regional and international security. A destabilised or divided military could give terrorist groups such as al-Qaida the opportunity to steal or acquire nuclear weapons technology. Such fears are exaggerated but not baseless. Impacts The military's relationship with Islamist militants will continue to be shaped by strategic calculations, rather than religious ideologies. This will undercut moderate political parties in Pakistan and the security of Afghanistan and India. Pakistan's defence ties with China and the United States would be imperilled by an Islamist shift in Pakistan's military.

Atomic Ambiguity: Event Data Evidence on Nuclear Latency and International Cooperation

2021 ◽  
pp. 002200272110369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Mattiacci ◽  
Rupal N. Mehta ◽  
Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
International Security ◽  
Nuclear Proliferation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Event Data ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
The Impact

How does dual-use technology influence cooperation? This study explores how the development of nuclear latency (the technological precursors to nuclear weapons) affects U.S. cooperative overtures toward its possessors. We argue that the ambiguous nature of nuclear latency creates uncertainty about the intentions of its possessors and impacts cooperation. Using event data, we find that a state’s possession of overt lab-scale enrichment and reprocessing facilities is significantly correlated with greater cooperative overtures from the United States toward that country. These overtures may serve as effective tools to counter nuclear proliferation among these states. Yet, when latent states engage in a concerted effort to keep their facilities secret, both at the lab and a more advanced “pilot” stage, this relationship is reversed. These results carry important implications for the impact of emerging, dual-use technologies on international security broadly.

Options and Choices in the Disposition of Excess Weapon Plutonium

1995 ◽  
Vol 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. L. Garwin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
International Security ◽  
Arms Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Similar Amount ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Hard Evidence

AbstractMore than 50 tons of weapon-related plutonium (WPu) is expected to become excess andavailable for disposition by the year 2003 in Russia and a similar amount in the United States.Per two reports from the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the NationalAcademy of Sciences (1994 1 and 1995 2), the hazard of theft and incorporation into nuclearweapons impels us to guard this Pu carefully and as soon as possible to transform it into a formless accessible for use in nuclear weapons. To this end, CISAC adopted the “Spent FuelStandard” for the disposed WPu, which, if met, renders the WPu no greater hazard per kg thanthe much larger amount of reactor Pu in the form of spent fuel, since CISAC finds that separatedRPu can be used for nuclear weapons with little additional difficulty beyond that posed byseparated WPu. Many disposition routes can be eliminated on the basis of cost or other metric.The two principal survivors (of about equal cost and difficulty for the United States) are thepartial burning of WPu as MOX and the direct vitrification of WPu (as oxide) with high-level‘defense wastes’. Both these approaches should be pursued urgently, with experiments toqualify the processes, until one is selected on the basis of hard evidence. Either approach wouldcost about $1 B, within a factor two, to dispose of 50 tons of excess WPu. The CISAC analysiswill be presented, with comments on utility of RPu in weapons, on the DOE PlutoniumDisposition Study, and on ‘explosive criticality’ in the repository.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY ACTIVITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-79
Author(s):  
Nargiza Sodikova ◽  
◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Modern Time ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Interests ◽  
French Foreign Policy

Important aspects of French foreign policy and national interests in the modern time,France's position in international security and the specifics of foreign affairs with the United States and the European Union are revealed in this article

The Impact of Monetary and Fiscal Policies on the Stock Market in the United States (U.S); Evidence from Linear ARDL Framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-132
Author(s):  
Aref Emamian
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Real Effective Exchange Rate ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Fiscal Policies ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Us ◽  
Short Run ◽  
The Impact

This study examines the impact of monetary and fiscal policies on the stock market in the United States (US), were used. By employing the method of Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) developed by Pesaran et al. (2001). Annual data from the Federal Reserve, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund, from 1986 to 2017 pertaining to the American economy, the results show that both policies play a significant role in the stock market. We find a significant positive effect of real Gross Domestic Product and the interest rate on the US stock market in the long run and significant negative relationship effect of Consumer Price Index (CPI) and broad money on the US stock market both in the short run and long run. On the other hand, this study only could support the significant positive impact of tax revenue and significant negative impact of real effective exchange rate on the US stock market in the short run while in the long run are insignificant. Keywords: ARDL, monetary policy, fiscal policy, stock market, United States

Iraq's Chemical Weapons Legacy: What Others Might Learn from Saddam

2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-208
Author(s):  
Richard L. Russell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Nuclear Weapon ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chemical Weapons ◽  
Nation States

Iraq's experience with chemical weapons provides ample lessons for nation-states looking to redress their conventional military shortcomings. Nation-states are likely to learn from Saddam that chemical weapons are useful for waging war against nation-states ill-prepared to fight on a chemical battlefield as well as against internal insurgents and rebellious civilians. Most significantly, nation-states studying Iraq's experience are likely to conclude that chemical weapons are not a “poor man's nuclear weapon” and that only nuclear weapons can deter potential adversaries including the United States.

The Rise and Fall of Great Powers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geir Lundestad
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Powers ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
The West ◽  
Economic Modernization

There are no laws in history. Realists, liberals, and others are both right and wrong. Although no one can be certain that military incidents may not happen, for the foreseeable future China and the United States are unlikely to favor major war. They have cooperated well for almost four decades now. China is likely to continue to focus on its economic modernization. It has far to go to measure up to the West. The American-Chinese economies are still complementary. A conflict with the United States or even with China’s neighbors would have damaging repercussions for China’s economic goals. The United States is so strong that it would make little sense for China to take it on militarily. There are also other deterrents against war, from nuclear weapons to emerging norms about international relations. It is anybody’s guess what will happen after the next few decades. History indicates anything is possible.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document