International co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and the question of the non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

In recent years, the development of nuclear energy peaceful purposes has become the subject of intense debate within and outside the United Nations. A variety of views are being advanced reflecting the different needs and interests of different countries in the light of such considerations as resource endowment, energy requirements and options, level of scientific, technological and economic development and environmental factors. Essentially, however, two trends of thought dominate the debate, one focusing on the link between the dissemination of nuclear technology, equipment and materials for peaceful purposes and the spread of nuclear weapons, and the other on the benefits that may be derived from the peaceful applications of nuclear technology. These trends clash in two separate but related areas. One disagreement concerns the transfer of nuclear technology, equipment and materials for peaceful purposes. Here changes in nuclear export policies in the direction of more stringent export controls and a stricter safeguards régime have sparked controversy between supplier and recipient countries. The other disagreement, involving mainly the United States on one side and a number of developed countries on the other, originates in differing evaluations of the prospective dangers and expected benefits of the “plutonium economy” i.e., the use of plutonium in the nuclear fuel cycle.

Related Subject(s): Disarmament