Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
number of fuel handling points. Mohamed El Baradei
(former head of the IAEA), and former US President
George W. Bush, for example, have suggested plans that
would internationalize the fuel cycle. Enrichment and
reprocessing would be done at only a few places and these
would be under special controls. The problem is that such
ideas, while good in theory, need to get the incentives for
participation right. So far, these plans are the result of the
“
nuclear haves
”
talking among themselves and not talking
to the
While the talking proceeds,
governments new to the nuclear game may conclude
that they have to build their own fuel supply systems that
are less dependent on suppliers with their own political
agendas.
The problem needs urgent
“
nuclear have-nots.
”
attention (
Technical
Note
discusses options for internationalization). If
serious efforts do not begin soon the
.
are
likely to build their own fuel supply systems and the
dangers of proliferation will become much higher. Plans
to tame proliferation by nation states must include incen-
tives to make any system attractive as well as effective
monitoring and credible sanctions. Today, incentives are
in short supply, inspections are not as rigorous as they
could be, and there is no consensus on the rigor of sanc-
tions that should be applied.
The scientists and engineers know that a major
strengthening of the defenses against proliferation is a
political issue, not a technical one. The politicians hope
that some technical miracle will solve the problem so that
they won
“
have-nots
”
t have to deal with political complications, but
the scientists know that this is not going to happen. Short
of a distant Utopia, the best that the nations of the world
'
