Nuclear power and weapons proliferation — The thin link

“Proliferation” — the current shorthand buzzword which describes the potential international spread of the production capability for nuclear weapons — has been a matter of national concern in the US since the closing days of World War II. But this recently-popularized concern now appears to be causing a reversal of a quarter century of US policy regarding the best means of preventing proliferation. Stimulated by the last presidential campaign, the US has been moving toward prohibiting, or severely restricting, domestic use of the civilian fuel cycle including plutonium reprocessing and postponing consequently the US breeder reactor option. This is being advocated on the ground that, if the US foregoes civilian reprocessing and use of plutonium and delays the breeder, other countries — energy-hungry though they may be — will voluntarily deprive themselves of the full benefit of nuclear energy to follow our “moral leadership.”