Publication Name

L’A

TLAS

ONDE

DIPLOMATIQUE

civilian and military uses

International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) there were only 24 nuclear

power stations under construction in

May 2005.

Some nuclear materials, in parti-

cular highly enriched plutonium and

uranium, may be used for civil purpo-

ses or in explosive devices. Attempts

to distinguish between civil and mili-

tary uses make increasingly little sense

technically and often provide an excuse

for disregarding measures to control

proliferation. In all the countries pos-

sessing nuclear weapons, progress

in civil nuclear science has benefited

arms development, and vice versa.

Although civil nuclear power plays a

relatively minor role in energy pro-

duction, the strategic potential of the

materials involved and the inherent

risk of amilitary or terrorist attack have

steadily increased. The stock of “civil”

plutonium exceeds 230 tonnes world-

wide and it is increasing. It represents

at least twice the amount contained in

the 30,000 nuclear warheads thought

to exist.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty calls on its signatories (China,

the US, France, the UK and Russia,

the acknowledged nuclear-weapon

states) to negotiate “general and com-

plete disarmament”. In practice they

have never stopped developing new

weapons. The US and Russia have

substantially reduced the number of

deployed warheads, but most of these

weapons were considered obsolete. A

genuine initiative for disarmament

would involve resumption of nego-

tiations for a treaty banning the pro-

duction of enriched plutonium and

uranium.

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Eniwetok

Reggane

Hiroshima

Nagasaki

Mururoa

Christmas Island

Bikini

Aleutian

Islands

Nevada

Monte Bello

Islands

Novaja Zeml´a

Emu

Maralinga

Lop Nor

Kapustin

Yar

Say-Utes

Semei

(ex-Semipalatinsk)

PACIFIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

INDIAN

OCEAN

PACIFIC

OCEAN

Lira

Sources: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005; International Nuclear Safety Centre, 2002; Christian Bataille, Henri Revol, Les

incidences environnementales et sanitaires des essais nucléaires effectués par la France entre 1960 et 1996 et éléments de comparaison avec les essais des autres puissances nucléaires, French

National Assembly (report no 3571) and Senate (report no 207), Paris, 2002.

NB: figures for India, Israel and

Pakistan are estimates.

15 000

500

10 000

In tonnes (end of 2002)

80 40 10 2.5

Ackowledged nuclear-weapon states

Suspected nuclear-weapon states

Main nuclear explosions since 1945

The two sides to an industry