Student Kuzmenko Ekaterina

Teacher Gubina Elena

Severskaya Gimnazia

February 2006

Benchmarks I & II.

The nuclear industry is our future. The role of nuclear weapons today is different than it was during the Cold War, but the lessons of the Cold War are still instructive.

During the Cold War, the role of nuclear weapons was shaped by the nature of the opponent—the Soviet Union, a fellow nuclear superpower—and reliance on the “balance of terror.” Furthermore, holding societal, urban, and industrial targets—and not primarily military targets—at risk was held to be stabilizing. This in turn dictated the numbers and types of nuclear weapons required. The ultimate mechanism of deterrence, which proved extremely effective and certain, was this “balance of terror.”

In the post-Cold War world, Russia is no longer the enemy. Today’s threats are regional powers armed with weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and long-range delivery mechanisms. Lesser military powers may now be able to hold at risk U.S. military and civilian targets. Deterrence is an uncertain tool in this environment, and capabilities that were formerly stabilizing may now exert destabilizing effects.

Even in the post-Cold War environment, deterrence remains important. The Cold War arsenal must be adjusted, in numbers and types of weapons, to provide deterrence in a new and dynamic situation. And the U.S. needs to be able, more than ever before, to respond to dramatic changes.

What are nuclear weapons?

We will take the word weapon to mean an explosive weapon, such as a bomb, the warhead of a missile or an artillery shell. All weapons contain explosive material which explodes when suitably triggered. In conventional weapons, the explosive material is something that can undergo some chemical reaction that proceeds very fast and releases a lot of energy. Basically it can `burn' so fast that it explodes. The first explosive material used in weapons was gunpowder; nowadays more powerful explosives like TNT and RDX are used.

The explosive material in a nuclear weapon can undergo a nuclear reaction at a very fast rate. What a nuclear reaction is and why it releases so much energy is explained later.

How do nuclear weapons differ from conventional ones?

An important difference between a chemical and a nuclear reaction is that the latter releases about a million times more energy than a chemical reaction. This difference makes nuclear weapons much more powerful than conventional ones.

One measure of the power of a weapon is given by the total amount of energy released in the explosion. This is called the yield of the weapon. The yield of nuclear weapons is usually expressed in terms of the equivalent amount of TNT which would release the same amount of energy. So a single `small' nuclear weapon whose yield is ten kilotons releases the same amount of energy as ten kilotons, i.e. 10,000,000 (one crore) kilograms of TNT.

To get a better idea of what these numbers mean, let us see how many conventional bombs would release the same amount of energy as one such small nuclear bomb. A 10 kiloton nuclear bomb weighs about 500 kg whereas a conventional bomb of the same weight contains about 250 kg of explosives. So a single small nuclear bomb releases as much energy as about 40,000 conventional bombs. The explosion of such a bomb is then like forty thousand conventional bombs exploding simultaneously at the same point.

Nuclear weapons are tremendously more powerful than conventional ones. They cause death and destruction on a much larger scale. They are indeed weapons of mass destruction.

The second major difference is that a nuclear explosion produces large amounts of ``radioactive" material that give out deadly rays of nuclear radiation. (This is also called the fallout.) A large dose of radiation can kill a human instantly. Exposure to a somewhat smaller amount can have even worse consequences. It can cause severe illness leading to slow death after days or even years of suffering. Radiation can cause genetic damage leading to babies being born deformed. It contaminates large areas of land, making it useless for agriculture for years or even decades. These aspects of nuclear weapons thus introduce a new dimension of horror. The poisoning of humans and their environment by radiation makes the process of recovering from a nuclear attack a long and painful one.

These are the reasons why a large section of informed and sensible people in the world consider nuclear weapons to be unacceptable, much more so than biological and chemical weapons, which are already banned by international agreement.

The different types of nuclear weapons.

This is a picture of the largest bomb in the world.

Two types of nuclear reactions are used in nuclear weapons. The nuclei of some heavy elements like uranium or plutonium can split into two roughly equal sized nuclei with the release of energy. Such a process is known as nuclear fission. On the other hand, two light nuclei can undergo nuclear fusion to combine and form a single nucleus, again with the release of energy. These reactions are explained in detail later. All nuclear weapons use fission and fusion reactions in different combinations.

From the point of view of military usage, the weapons fall into two classes. The first are called tactical weapons. These are meant to be used in the battlefield against military formations and are typically low-yield weapons. The second class is called strategic weapons. These are high-yield weapons designed to kill civilian populations in cities. The different types of weapons that have been built or thought of are described below.

Pure Fission Weapons

Weapons in which only the fission reaction takes place are called pure fission weapons or simply fission weapons. Such were the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These are the simplest nuclear weapons to design and build. They form the basis for developing other types of weapons. Their yield can range from a few tons to about a few hundred kilotons. They can be both tactical and strategic weapons. The largest pure fission weapon tested is believed to be a 500 kiloton bomb called Mk-18 which was tested by the USA on the 15th November 1952.

Boosted Fission Weapons

The efficiency of a fission weapon can be dramatically increased by introducing a small amount of material that can undergo fusion. Such weapons are called boosted fission weapons. In boosted weapons, the fission reaction takes place first and produces the required temperatures and densities for the fusion reaction. The fusion in turn accelerates the fission reaction. The fusion only serves to help the fission process go faster and makes the weapon more “efficient”. It contributes to only about 1% of the yield. Since boosted fission weapons are more efficient than pure fission weapons, they can be made lighter for the same yield. So most of the strategic fission weapons deployed today are boosted fission weapons.

Thermonuclear Weapons

Thermonuclear weapons, also called hydrogen bombs, get most of their yield from the fusion reaction. As in the case of boosted fission weapons, they require a fission explosion (called the primary stage) to trigger the fusion (the secondary stage). However, unlike the boosted weapons, thermonuclear weapons contain a substantial amount of fusion fuel and most of their yield comes from fusion. These are the most powerful nuclear weapons, often with yields of a few megatons (a megaton is a million tons). A third fission stage can also be added to produce very high yield weapons. The most powerful nuclear weapon to have been tested so far is the Tsar Bomba, a 50 megaton three-stage weapon exploded by the USSR on 30th October, 1961. However it is not necessary for a thermonuclear weapon to have such high yields. The B61 (Mk-61) class of tactical thermonuclear weapons deployed by the USA have yields which can be adjusted to be as small as 0.3 kilotons (300 tons).

Enhanced Radiation Weapons

Enhanced radiation weapons, also called neutron bombs, are small thermonuclear weapons which are designed to produce intense nuclear radiation. These are tactical weapons designed to kill soldiers protected by armour (for example, inside tanks). The radiation produced by the neutron bombs can easily penetrate the armour of tanks and kill the humans inside.

Salted Nuclear Weapons

Salted nuclear weapons, or cobalt bombs, are thermonuclear weapons which are designed to produce a large amount of long lasting radioactive fallout. This would result in large scale radioactive contamination of the area they are dropped in. The fallout from salted weapons is much more intense and lasts much longer than from unsalted weapons. The long term effects of such weapons would therefore be much worse. These weapons are called `Doomsday Devices' since they could possibly kill everyone on earth. Fortunately, though these weapons have been conceived of and discussed, none have been built or tested (as far as we know).

Pure Fusion Weapons

These are fusion weapons that would not need a fission trigger for the thermonuclear explosion. Active research is low yields. Yet, the lethality of these weapons due to nuclear radiation and explosive force going on in the US to develop these weapons, but with no success so far. Since there is no fission trigger, pure fusion weapons could be made with very would still be great. For instance, a pure fusion weapon with an explosive force equivalent to one ton of TNT would kill people in an area nearly a hundred times larger than a conventional bomb with the same explosive force.

Another feature of these weapons is that since they do not use fissile material, their development would not be restricted by the FMCT.

Enriching uranium and plutonium.

It is too difficult to tell about that very process like enriching uranium and plutonium inseparable parts of nuclear weapons development not visualizing as they pass.

Nuclear fuel cycle consists of the following steps:

1. Uranium ore mining and processing
2. Uranium hexafluoride production and uranium isotopes enrichment
3. Fuel element production
4. Nuclear power generation at nuclear power plants (NPP)
5. Radiochemical treatment of spent nuclear fuel
6. Radioactive waste treatment, deactivation and disposal
7. Radioactive substance storage and transportation between individual levels of fuel cycle

Now let’s talk about enrichment.

Uranium ore mining and processing. It is a first step. Originally uranium ore is mined within ore fields. However such uranium can hardly be used for power generation because the content of U-235 in it equals about 0.7%. Moreover, this ore contains a lot of useless material. That is why, immediately after mining the ore is enriched, grinded, and the uranium is separated from the useless particles. As a result of enrichment, a solid substance of U₃O₈ is obtained.

Enriching Uranium

Enriching uranium increases the amount of "middle-weight" and “light-weight” uranium atoms. Not all uranium atoms are the same. When uranium is mined, it consists of heavy-weight atoms (about 99.3% of the mass), middle-weight atoms (0.7%), and light-weight atoms (< 0.01%). These are the different isotopes of uranium, which means that while they all contain 92 protons in the atom’s center (which is what makes it uranium). The heavy-weight atoms contain 146 neutrons, the middle-weight contain 143 neutrons, and the light-weight have just 142 neutrons. To refer to these isotopes, scientists add the number of protons and neutrons and put the total after the name: uranium-234 or U-234, uranium-235 or U-235, and uranium-238 or U-238.

The fuel for nuclear reactors has to have a higher concentration of U-235 than exists in natural uranium ore. This is because U-235 is the key ingredient that starts a nuclear reaction and keeps it going. Normally, the amount of the U-235 isotope is enriched from 0.7% of the uranium mass to about 5%. Gaseous diffusion is the only process being used in the United States to commercially enrich uranium. Gas centrifuges can also be used to enrich uranium. Although this enrichment process is not used in the United States, the NRC is conducting licensing activities concerning two planned centrifuge facilities.

Gaseous Diffusion

Process: In the gaseous diffusion enrichment plant, the solid uranium hexafluoride (UF6) from the conversion process is heated in its container until it becomes a liquid. The container becomes pressurized as the solid melts and UF6 gas fills the top of the container. The UF6 gas is slowly fed into the plant’s pipelines where it is pumped through special filters called barriers or porous membranes. The holes in the barriers are so small that there is barely enough room for the UF6 gas molecules to pass through. The isotope enrichment occurs when the lighter UF6 gas molecules (with the U-234 and U-235 atoms) tend to diffuse faster through the barriers than the heavier UF6 gas molecules containing U-238. One barrier isn’t enough, though. It takes many hundreds of barriers, one after the other, before the UF6 gas contains enough uranium-235 to be used in reactors. At the end of the process, the enriched UF6 gas is withdrawn from the pipelines and condensed back into a liquid that is poured into containers. The UF6 is then allowed to cool and solidify before it is transported to fuel fabrication facilities where it is turned into fuel assemblies for nuclear power reactors.

Hazards: The primary hazard in gaseous diffusion plants include the chemical and radiological hazard of a UF6 release and the potential for mishandling the enriched uranium, which could create a criticality accident (inadvertent nuclear chain reaction).

Plants: The only gaseous diffusion plant in operation in the United States is in Paducah, Kentucky. A similar plant is near in Piketon, Ohio, but it was shut down in March 2001. Both plants are leased by the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) from the Department of Energy and have been regulated by the NRC since March 4, 1997.

Natural uranium contains 99% U-238 and only about 0.7% U-235 by weight.


The uranium enrichment process increases the concentration of
U-235 to the amount needed for use in reactor fuel.

Gas Centrifuge

The gas centrifuge uranium enrichment process uses a large number of rotating cylinders in series and parallel formations. Centrifuge machines are interconnected to form trains and cascades. In this process, UF6 gas is placed in a cylinder and rotated at a high speed. This rotation creates a strong centrifugal force so that the heavier gas molecules (containing U-238) move toward the outside of the cylinder and the lighter gas molecules (containing U-235) collect closer to the center. The stream that is slightly enriched in U-235 is withdrawn and fed into the next higher stage, while the slightly depleted stream is recycled back into the next lower stage. Significantly more U-235 enrichment can be obtained from a single unit gas centrifuge than from a single unit gaseous diffusion stage. No gas centrifuge commercial production plants are operating in the United States, however, both Louisiana Energy Services (LES) and USEC Inc. have submitted license applications. USEC Inc. was granted a license in February 2004 for a demonstration and test gas centrifuge plant, which is currently under construction.

Production and Disposition

Over 1500 metric tons of plutonium has been produced worldwide, some for weapons use, and most of the rest as a byproduct of electricity production. It is important to note that the plutonium produced as a byproduct in a nuclear power reactor is created in its many isotopic forms, including Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, and Pu-242. This is known as “reactor-grade” plutonium. In contrast, “weapons-grade” plutonium contains almost pure (over 90 percent) Pu-239. Plutonium-239 is created in a reactor that is specially designed and operated to produce Pu-239 from uranium.

With the end of the Cold War, the United States and the former Soviet Union began dismantling thousands of nuclear weapons which has resulted in a surplus of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. To dispose of this surplus and protect against it falling into the wrong hands, the U.S. has plans to mix the plutonium with uranium to make mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for power reactors. The intent of the MOX fuel program is to irradiate the so-called “weapons-grade” plutonium, converting it to “reactor-grade,” which will make the plutonium no longer suitable for use in advanced nuclear weapons. There would be no reprocessing or subsequent reuse of the MOX spent fuel. The fuel would be disposed of in a waste repository along with other high-level nuclear waste.

Most reprocessing work takes place in Europe. Recovered plutonium is combined with uranium also into a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel, which is being used in some light-water power reactors. (Also, significant quantities of plutonium separated from discharged fuel have been placed in long-term storage.) Prospects for future reprocessing, whether for MOX fuel for conventional reactors or for breeder reactors, depend on future demand for nuclear power and on the availability and cost of uranium fuel. Recent economic studies indicate that widespread breeder implementation is not likely to occur until well past the middle of the 21st century.

Thus, discharged fuel and its plutonium will continue to accumulate. The current global inventory of plutonium in discharged fuel is about 1,000 metric tons. Various projections indicate that by 2030, the inventory could increase to 5,000 metric tons if nuclear power becomes widely used in developing countries. Even if global nuclear power generation remains at present levels, the plutonium accumulation by 2030 will total 3,000 metric tons.

Alongside the problem of peaceful use of atom there are still problems of world proliferation.

Missile Threat Map

«Our world, nation, communities and families live with real and credible threats from weapons of mass destruction, which can easily be delivered through our skies. We have no defense against these threats. Over three dozen countries around the world posses weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, and biological) and have the ballistic delivery means and capability to strike our nation, allies and troops overseas. Rogue countries distribute weapons of mass destruction and share the technology and ballistic missile delivery systems around the world for financial and political gains; and in most cases, these countries violate international arms control agreements. The will to strike the United States is a reality. 9/11 has proven the magnitude of their will. These entities have no respect for diplomacy and arms control treaties. Instead of being threatened by one country during the cold war, the United States currently faces several smaller threats around the globe. The ability to protect ourselves with the Mutually Assured Destruction policy is of the past and does not apply to the world we live in today. Our nation, cities, communities, and families are vulnerable to an unthinkable but real threat», - this words make me became watchful and think about it.

Now that one comes to think of it, the problem of the nation nuclear potentials is actual nowadays. The world map reminds a shred blanket and it reflects nuclear status quo of the nations at the moment.

A chart identifying various nations and their nuclear problems

Name of Nation	Nuclear	Nuclear capable	Non-nuclear, denuclearized, rejecting (R)
China	+
Russia	+
United States	+
United Kingdom	+
France	+
Iran		+
North Korea		+
India	+ new
Israel	+ new
Pakistan	+ new
Argentina			+ R
Brazil			+ R
Libya			+ R
South Africa			+ R
Ukraine			+
Belarus			+
Kazakhstan			+

A lot of nation are non-nuclear and theirs chart is too large. As for me and for lots of people Iran is a more interesting object as a new-nuclear nation.

This is…Iran today (02.03.06, February, 3)

VIENNA : The UN atomic agency is set to send Iran to the UN Security Council over suspected atomic weapons work despite an Iranian threat to retaliate with industrial-level uranium enrichment.

Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani made the formal threat in a letter to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors is expected to make the referral to the Security Council after three years of a still inconclusive investigation of an Iranian nuclear program the United States charges hides secret atomic weapons development.

In reaction to referral "the agency's monitoring (of the Iranian program) would extensively be limited and all the peaceful nuclear activities being under voluntary suspension would be resumed without any restriction," Larijani said in his letter.

Iran is currently suspending full-scale uranium enrichment, the crucial technology that makes nuclear reactor fuel that can also be bomb material.

The five permanent UN Security Council members have closed ranks at the emergency IAEA session in Vienna over a draft resolution to take Iran to the Council, which unlike the IAEA has enforcement powers.

The text is a compromise between a US desire for immediate Council action against Iran and Russia's demand for a month's time, until the next IAEA meeting in March, for more diplomacy.

Russia, a key trade partner of Iran, hopes Tehran can be convinced to respond to IAEA edicts for it to suspend all nuclear fuel work and cooperate fully with agency inspectors.

Russian ambassador Gregory Berdennikov said clearly "yes" when asked by reporters if he would vote for the draft text and China is expected to follow the Russian lead, a Western diplomat said.

The IAEA has called on Iran to suspend all nuclear fuel activities but Iran pressed ahead in January with preparations for uranium enrichment, after having in August resumed uranium conversion that makes the feedstock gas for enrichment.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed his country would "under no condition" abandon its disputed nuclear drive.

"The main thing in nuclear energy is enrichment," Ahmadinejad said.

In Washington, US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte said Iran probably does not yet have a nuclear weapon and does not have the necessary material for one.

But he said Iran was a nation "of highest concern" because of the danger of nuclear proliferation.

US ambassador Gregory Schulte insisted that the United States "continues to support all efforts to seek a peaceful diplomatic solution."

Washington supports a Moscow proposal to resolve the row by having Iran enrich uranium in Russia, preventing Tehran mastering the key technology.

The IAEA has been investigating Tehran for three years, and in September found it in non-compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for hiding sensitive nuclear activities for 18 years.

Such a finding requires a report to the Security Council, but the IAEA held off on this to give Iran time to cooperate with the agency's investigation and stop nuclear fuel work.

Iran says its nuclear activities are solely for producing electricity, but Washington says Iran is using the program to pursue weapons. But there is something interesting:

The five nuclear-weapon countries in the world are: US, Russia, Great Britain, France, China. Two more countries have got nuclear weapons de facto, but they are not juridical owners, India and Pakistan. There is information that Israel has got nuclear weapons but has never tested them. Besides, South Africa made the atomic bomb and then willingly rejected its weapon program, destroyed the charges and cut down elaboration in this sphere. North Korea announced about a year ago that it had a nuclear weapon, and the US intelligence chief warned that Iran could have one within 10 years. "The threat of proliferation and the threats posed by Iran and North Korea really go hand-in-hand,"- Negroponte said.

Negroponte's remarks come as the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) governing board meets in Vienna to consider a US-EU request to drag Iran before the UN Security Council over its nuclear program.

Mr. Bush said: "The Iranian government is defying the world with its nuclear ambitions and the nations of the world must not permit the Iranian regime to gain nuclear weapons."

But another country posing a major diplomatic challenge, North Korea, was barely mentioned and then only in passing. "North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction while starving its citizens,"- Mr. Bush had said. "There are reasons why those previous negotiations failed, but I think there are reasons why these negotiations have a real chance. One of the reasons why these negotiations have a real chance is they are truly multilateral in character; which is to say the problem of nuclear weapons in North Korea is indeed a US problem, but it is also a Republic of Korea problem, it is a Japan problem, it is a China problem, it is a Russia problem. It's truly a six-party problem,"- he said. Critics of Mr. Bush wondered why he didn't discuss North Korea in depth and if that somehow signaled a shift in policy. Not so, says the Administration. The sooner the six-party talks resume, they say, the better. According to IAEA 20 countries in the world are able to create their own nuclear weapons.

In the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty there is a small special case that reads,”Only countries tested nuclear weapons before 1968 can posses them. The rest of the countries have no right to it and cannot be called nuclear states”. Hence it follows dual status of India and Pakistan which made and tested nuclear weapons but cannot be numbered among the nuclear countries club. I think that nuclear proliferation as well as its means of transportation is a real threat to peace all over the world if the terrorists could have nuclear weapons. Consequences can be catastrophic. The aim of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is to control any elaborations in the sphere and cut down any attempts to create nuclear weapons. Destroying of Iraq nuclear-armed program in early 90^th is an example of such efficiency.

IAEA. The "Atoms for Peace" Agency

The IAEA is the world's center of cooperation in the nuclear field. It was set up as the world's "Atoms for Peace" organization in 1957 within the United Nations family. The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.

The IAEA Secretariat is headquartered at the Vienna International Centre in Vienna, Austria. Operational liaison and regional offices are located in Geneva, Switzerland; New York, USA; Toronto, Canada; and Tokyo, Japan. The IAEA runs or supports research centers and scientific laboratories in Vienna and Seibersdorf, Austria; Monaco; and Trieste, Italy.

The IAEA Secretariat is a team of 2200 multi-disciplinary professional and support staff from more than 90 countries. The Agency is led by Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and six Deputy Directors General who head the major departments.

IAEA programmes and budgets are set through decisions of its policymaking bodies - the 35-member Board of Governors and the General Conference of all Member States. Reports on IAEA activities are submitted periodically or as cases warrant to the UN Security Council and UN General Assembly.

IAEA financial resources include the regular budget and voluntary contributions. The Regular Budget for 2004 amounts to US $268.5 million. The target for voluntary contributions to the Technical Co-operation Fund for 2004 is US $74.75 million.

The IAEA's mission is guided by the interests and needs of Member States, strategic plans and the vision embodied in the IAEA Statute. Three main pillars - or areas of work - underpin the IAEA's mission: Safety and Security; Science and Technology; and Safeguards and Verification.

IAEA Organizational Chart

* The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Abdus Salam ICTP), legally referred to as "International Centre for Theoretical Physics", is operated as a joint programme by UNESCO and the Agency. Administration is carried out by UNESCO on behalf of both organizations. The Agency´s involvement in the Centre is managed by the Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications.

**With the participation of UNEP and IOC.

The NPT is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The Treaty represents the only binding commitment in a multilateral treaty to the goal of disarmament by the nuclear-weapon States. Opened for signature in 1968, the Treaty entered into force in 1970. A total of 187 parties have joined the Treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon States. More countries have ratified the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement, a testament to the Treaty's significance. 

What does a nation sacrifice by joining the NPT?

To my mind, it is not an easy question. Firstly, not each country can afford to create atomic industry because it is very expensive. For example, Pakistan has overtaxed its strength with nuclear program and now is going through economic and social crisis, while India could do it. There are not many countries in the world which are able to spend a lot of money.

However, we should take into consideration the other countries concerning the development of nuclear technologies and creating of compact systems for uranium enrichment. Who knows what might happen? So the countries, where the politicians think and act adequately , realize that signing of the Treaty is a question of vital importance to prevent neighbor countries from NW elaborating .Thus they can make themselves secure against nuclear threat. The second way to sign the Treaty is to exert pressure by the highly developed countries. Maybe it was like that during the Cold War when U.S. and Russia could easily influence their satellite countries. I think this method is not as old-fashioned as it seems to be nowadays and is still in use. At last, the countries signing the Treaty which have no NW get so-called negative and positive guarantees. That means that nuclear-armed countries are obliged not to use NW against these countries (except open aggression).They also must defend these countries if someone attacks them. In my opinion, it is profitable for all the partners, but if a state rejects to discharge its duties and starts developing its own nuclear program, consequences can result in failure.

Non-proliferation news. Severskaya Gimnazia. February 2006.

Not so long ago there was Annual School Competition - Politician of the Year. On the briefing Dmitriy Hodos, the winner, answered the questions about proliferation and non-proliferation.

· Do we need nuclear weapons?

Pro: Creating NW serves to further development of science and technologies that can be used with peaceful aims.

Cont: If a war comes it will last for 6 minutes. Large territories will be contaminated. It is meaninglessly. Common cold steel does not threat deathly to the mankind unlike the NW.

· What are the benefits of being nuclear for our nation? The risks?

Pro: Development of the nuclear power engineering

Using nuclear physics in medicine

Space research

Recycling nuclear wastes

Cont: Soil, water and air contamination

Radiation

Acts of terrorism

· Why do nations join the NPT?

Most of the countries would like to have guarantees of safety and defence against the common enemy. The rest of them do not want anyone to interfere and control their internal affairs like North Korea in 2003.

This is a slogan exclusively created to the briefing.

The emblem of the briefing was this bumper sticker, in a form of a ribbon with signs of radiation. Later we change the signs into flowers and now we have got the emblem of non-proliferation.

In order to avoid the war like in Iraq, people should come to an agreement on their own level. This ribbon symbolizes the idea of non-proliferation and that further proliferation can not result in anything good.

As a sign of consent, please fasten this ribbon to your jacket, dress or your car. Thus you can show you do not want war. The more people do it; the more followers will join us. Perhaps then we can influence world destiny.

This picture depicts nowadays situation and people’s attitude to nuclear proliferation.

Innocent like a child world surrounded by weapons is carelessly swinging back and forth between them and does not pay attention to the danger.

Abbreviations:

ABM Treaty – Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 1972

BRM - Biological response modifiers

BW - Biological weapons

BWC – Biological and Toxin Convention in 1972

CBW - Chemical and biological weapons

CFE Treaty – Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty in 1990

CTBT - Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996

CW - Сhemical weapons

CWC – Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993

DOE - U.S. Department of Energy

D-T - Deuterium and tritium gas

ER - Enhanced radiation

FMCT – Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty

HE - High explosives

HEU - Highly enriched uranium

IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency

INF Treaty – Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987

GB - Great Britain

Li - Lithium

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NBC - Nuclear, biological and chemical

NNPA – Nuclear Nonproliferation Act in 1978

NPT – Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

NPPA - Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act in 1994

NRBC - Nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical (weapons)

NW - Nuclear weapons

NWFZ – Nuclear-weapon-free zone

PNE Treaty – Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty in 1976

RF - Russian Federation

START Ι – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1991

START ΙΙ - Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in 1993

SALT - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (parley)

SALT Ι – Interim Agreement on Certain Measures with Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms in 1972

SALT ΙΙ - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty in 1979

TTBT – Threshold Test Ban Treaty in 1974

U - Uranium

UN - United Nations

U.S.(A.) - United States (of America)

NRC: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Missile Defense (MDAA)

http://www.newkerala.com/

www.thenationnews.com

Charles D. Ferguson, William C. Potter “The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism”

V.A . Orlov “Nuclear non-proliferation” volume 1, 2

http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/inf.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ The Nation news, January 6 (Bangkok)

http://www.thenation.com/

www.channelasia.com

www.economist.com Media Corp news

www.armscontrol.org/treaties ACA Arms Control Associated

www.nti.org/h_learnmore/npttutorial/index.html

A. G. Arbatov “Nuclear arming and safety of Russia”

V.A . Orlov, R. M. Timerbaev, A.V. Khlopkov “Nuclear nonproliferation problems”

O.A. Bukharin “Nuclear terrorism problems”