Proliferation: the pitfalls of nuclear weaponry

Abstract

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is in jeopardy: North Korea, who signed it, has tested a nuclear bomb, and Iran, a joint signatory, seems set on developing nuclear armaments. Since the first A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the world has not known a state of nuclear conflict for 60 years – and we have every reason for rejoicing. And yet the threat is still looming, whether it be a matter of 'escalation to the extremes' between States (a contingency that can't be entirely disregarded), of terrorist attacks using nuclear bombs, or of radioactive spills. As the chief executive officer of the International Nuclear Energy Agency (INEA) has put it, this is a twofold crisis: 'Some non-nuclear States have embarked on secret activities aiming at building nuclear armaments, and the nuclear States fail in their duty to take practical and irreversible measures in order to completely eliminate their nuclear arsenals'.