10. Internationalizing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle James E. Goodby
10. Internationalizing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle James E. Goodby Summary: Where We Are Right Now The Bush administration has tried to persuade the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) not to sell technology and equipment for enrichment and reprocessing to any state that does not already possess full-scale, functioning plants of this type. The proposal was rejected, even by close friends of the United States. The United States is now trying to accommodate its policy to a “criteria-based” approach proposed by France and other NSG members. Efforts to block the spread of en- richment and reprocessing capabilities have fallen short for four main reasons: (1) access to the base technologies required for entry into the field is relatively easy; (2) several states were determined to acquire their own enrichment and/or reprocessing capabilities for various rea- sons, e.g., to reduce energy dependence, conserve energy resources, or to manage nuclear wastes; (3) no combination of incentives and threats short of military action have sufficed to dissuade nations intent on acquiring a nuclear weapons capability from exploiting these tech- nologies; and (4) many nations that have no current intention of build- ing nuclear weapons and no special animosity toward the United I acknowledge, with thanks, the invaluable help that many people gave me in writing this paper. They include Chaim Braun, Sidney Drell, Amitai Etzioni, Mark Fitzpatrick, Geoffrey Forden, Charles Forsberg, Subrata Ghoshroy, Daryl Kimball, Pierre Gold- schmidt, Laura Holgate, Fred McGoldrick, Marvin Miller, Pavel Podvig, Burton Rich- ter, Geoffrey Rothwell, Harry Rowen, Larry Scheinman, Andy Semmel, George Shultz, Jim Timbie, and Frank von Hippel.
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