The World of Nuclear Science

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Introduction

Nuclear non-proliferation is the doctrine of nuclear weapons technology being confined to only those countries that already have it. The principle is that no country should share or export its nuclear weapons technology to any other country that does not already have that knowledge.

Ever since the United States dropped nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II, there has been much tension relating to the possibility of a full-scale nuclear war. The entire world saw the devastation that the nuclear bombs used over Japan caused. Many scientists who worked on the US's Manhattan Project regretted ever having done so after seeing the destruction that their efforts could cause. Sir Mark Oliphant, an Australian scientist who recently died and was a member of the Manhattan Project, was one of those who remained totally committed to atomic energy being used for peaceful purposes, and said that he never should have taken part in the race to build the atomic bomb.

Immediately after the war, the United States effectively had a nuclear weapons monopoly, with no other country having the devices. However, through the United Nations, the United States still pushed for the limiting and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons for military purposes. In June 1946, representative of the United States Bernard Baruch, proposed to the United Nation's Atomic Energy Commission (UNAEC) that nuclear weapons be abolished, controls be introduced over processing nuclear materials worldwide, information from science and technology pertaining to nuclear energy be shared globally, and safeguards be introduced to ensure that nuclear energy would be used only for peaceful purposes. The USSR, being a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, opposed the plan because they said the UNAEC was dominated by the United States and Western European countries.

In 1949 the USSR detonated its first nuclear device, making possible a world-wide nuclear war. This essentially was the start of the Cold War.

The Cold War was one where no shots were actually fired. Rather, it was an intense struggle of political, ideological and economic sanctions between the United States and Russia, with their respective allies. There were threats of using nuclear force, and the height of the Cold War represented global tension that could have meant the end of human civilisation in the eyes of some people.

An arms race between the United States and the USSR was triggered, with both attempting to build even more powerful thermonuclear weapons. Concerns were raised around the world about the possibility of full-scale nuclear war ending all life on Earth. In 1954 the USSR detonated its first thermonuclear bomb, signalling a shift in international arms controls towards disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons technology.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, beginning in 1960, was a result of the then USSR premier Nikita Khrushchev supplying Cuba with missles that would have put the East coast of the USA within range of attack from nuclear missiles. It is regarded by many people as the closest the world has ever got to nuclear war.

The Crisis escalated in 1962 when the US President John Kennedy threatened nuclear retalliation.

Public concerns about a "nuclear winter", one that would be caused by nuclear exchange between the world's superpowers led through three terms of US presidents throughout the 1980s. The US Department of Defense acknowledged the validity of the nuclear winter concept in 1986, but maintained its seemingly hardline stance in saying that those concerns would not affect its defence policies.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by 11 countries as part of the International Geophysical Year to ensure that Antarctica would be used only for peaceful purposes. The signatory countries were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, USSR, United Kingdom and USA - all of whom had significant interests in parts of Antarctica. Amongst the articles in this Treaty was one that prohibited nuclear activity in Antarctica.

Article V

1. Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited.
2. ...

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was formed in 1957, and its purpose was to oversee the development of nuclear tecnology world-wide. It also sets nuclear safety standards and ensures that facilities under its supervision are to be used for peaceful purposes only.

In 1963 the US, USSR and UK signed a treaty not to test nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in space, and in 1967 also signed a treaty to ban space from being used as a launching arena for weapons of any type. Also in 1967 a treaty was signed to ban nuclear weapons from Latin America.

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1968 was one of the most important relating to the control of nuclear weapons. Signatories to this treaty endeavoured to make sure that nuclear weapons, technology or materials would not be transferred outside of the countries that already had them (China, USSR, US, UK and France). Over 170 countries permanently extended their committment to the treaty in May 1995.

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were negotiations between the United States and the USSR about their nuclear weapons. The first round of these talks culminated in May 1972 with both countries agreeing to limit the sizes of their nuclear weapons stocks. A second round of talks was held until 1979, however, the proposed treaty as a result of these talks was not ratified by the United States' Parliament.

United States president Ronald Reagan cancelled negotiations of a comprehensive test ban treaty in 1981. Around this time, there was much controversy over the United States' actions in placing ballistic missiles in its Western European allies' territory. There was much opposition against this both within and outside the United States.

Negotations resumed in 1985, and in December 1987, the USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed a treaty with US President Ronald Reagan to destroy all nuclear weapons with a range of 500 to 5500 kilometres, known as the INF treaty. These types of weapons were placed in Western Europe by the United States earlier that decade.

In July 1991, US President George Bush and USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to reduce their countries' nuclear weapons stockpiles by about 25% as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I). The START II treaty signed later in January 1993 committed the countries to eliminating a further 75% of nuclear warheads, and total elimination of multiple-nuclear-warhead missiles.