Download or read book Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation written by Allan S. Krass and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1983, this book presents both the technical and political information necessary to evaluate the emerging threat to world security posed by recent advances in uranium enrichment technology. Uranium enrichment has played a relatively quiet but important role in the history of efforts by a number of nations to acquire nuclear weapons and by a number of others to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. For many years the uranium enrichment industry was dominated by a single method, gaseous diffusion, which was technically complex, extremely capital-intensive, and highly inefficient in its use of energy. As long as this remained true, only the richest and most technically advanced nations could afford to pursue the enrichment route to weapon acquisition. But during the 1970s this situation changed dramatically. Several new and far more accessible enrichment techniques were developed, stimulated largely by the anticipation of a rapidly growing demand for enrichment services by the world-wide nuclear power industry. This proliferation of new techniques, coupled with the subsequent contraction of the commercial market for enriched uranium, has created a situation in which uranium enrichment technology might well become the most important contributor to further nuclear weapon proliferation. Some of the issues addressed in this book are: A technical analysis of the most important enrichment techniques in a form that is relevant to analysis of proliferation risks; A detailed projection of the world demand for uranium enrichment services; A summary and critique of present institutional non-proliferation arrangements in the world enrichment industry, and An identification of the states most likely to pursue the enrichment route to acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Download or read book Nuclear Weapons Technology 101 for Policy Wonks written by Bruce Goodwin and published by . This book was released on 2021-05 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The making of policy for nuclear security requires a strong grasp of the associated technical matters. That grasp came naturally in the early decades of the nuclear era, when scientists and engineers were deeply engaged in policymaking. In more recent decades, the technical community has played a narrower role, one generally limited to implementing policies made by others. This narrower role has been accentuated by generational change in the technical community, as the scientists and engineers who conceived, built, and executed the programs that created the existing U.S. nuclear deterrent faded into history along with the long-term competition for technical improvements with the Soviet Union. There is thus today a clear need to impart to the new generation of nuclear policy experts the necessary technical context.That is the purpose of this paper. Specifically: to introduce a new generation of nuclear policy experts to the technical perspectives of a nuclear weapon designer, to explain the science and engineering of nuclear weapons for the policy generalist, to review the evolution of the U.S. approach to nuclear weapons design, to explain the main attributes of the existing U.S. nuclear stockpile, to explain the functions of the nuclear weapons complex, and how this all is integrated to sustain deterrence into the future.
Download or read book The Effects of Nuclear Weapons written by United States. Defense Atomic Support Agency and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fall of 2010, the Office of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Secretary for Science asked for a National Research Council (NRC) committee to investigate the prospects for generating power using inertial confinement fusion (ICF) concepts, acknowledging that a key test of viability for this concept-ignition -could be demonstrated at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the relatively near term. The committee was asked to provide an unclassified report. However, DOE indicated that to fully assess this topic, the committee's deliberations would have to be informed by the results of some classified experiments and information, particularly in the area of ICF targets and nonproliferation. Thus, the Panel on the Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets ("the panel") was assembled, composed of experts able to access the needed information. The panel was charged with advising the Committee on the Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems on these issues, both by internal discussion and by this unclassified report. A Panel on Fusion Target Physics ("the panel") will serve as a technical resource to the Committee on Inertial Confinement Energy Systems ("the Committee") and will prepare a report that describes the R&D challenges to providing suitable targets, on the basis of parameters established and provided to the Panel by the Committee. The Panel on Fusion Target Physics will prepare a report that will assess the current performance of fusion targets associated with various ICF concepts in order to understand: 1. The spectrum output; 2. The illumination geometry; 3. The high-gain geometry; and 4. The robustness of the target design. The panel addressed the potential impacts of the use and development of current concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy on the proliferation of nuclear weapons information and technology, as appropriate. The Panel examined technology options, but does not provide recommendations specific to any currently operating or proposed ICF facility.
Download or read book Revisiting South Africa s Nuclear Weapons Program written by David Albright and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-09-24 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1989, South Africa made the momentous decision to abandon its nuclear weapons, making it the first and still the only country that has produced nuclear weapons and given them up. Over thirty years, the apartheid regime had created a remarkably sophisticated capability to build nuclear weapons-both the nuclear warhead and advanced military systems to deliver them. The program was born in secret and remained so until its end. The government initially sought to dismantle it in secret. It hoped to avoid any negative international consequences of possessing nuclear weapons. The apartheid government's strategy did not work, because too many intelligence agencies knew about South Africa's nuclear weapons. Faced with intense pressure, South Africa's President F.W. de Klerk reversed course and adopted a policy of transparency in 1993. However, he decided to hide many of its aspects. Nonetheless, most of the remaining secrets emerged over the ensuing 25 years. Revisiting South Africa's Nuclear Weapons Program draws on previously secret information to provide the first comprehensive, technically-oriented look at South Africa's nuclear weapons program; how it grew, evolved, and ended. It also finds lessons for today's nuclear proliferation cases.
Download or read book Shooting Down a Star Program 437 the US Nuclear ASAT System and Present Day Copycat Killers written by Clayton K. S. Chun and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Power to Save the World written by Gwyneth Cravens and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An informed look at the myths and fears surrounding nuclear energy, and a practical, politically realistic solution to global warming and our energy needs. Faced by the world's oil shortages and curious about alternative energy sources, Gwyneth Cravens skeptically sets out to find the truth about nuclear energy. Her conclusion: it is a totally viable and practical solution to global warming. In the end, we see that if we are to care for subsequent generations, embracing nuclear energy is an ethical imperative.
Download or read book Nuclear Weapons and International Law written by Charles J. Moxley and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2024-05-15 with total page 1135 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume book provides a comprehensive analysis of the lawfulness of the use of nuclear weapons, based on existing international law, established facts as to nuclear weapons and their effects, and nuclear weapons policies and plans of the United States. Based on detailed analysis of the facts and law, Professor Moxley shows that the United States’ arguments that uses of nuclear weapons, including low-yield nuclear weapons, could be lawful do not withstand analysis. Moxley opens by examining established rules of international law governing the use of nuclear weapons, first analyzing this body of law based on the United States’ own statements of the matter and then extending the analysis to include requirements of international law that the United States overlooks in its assessment of the lawfulness of potential nuclear weapons uses. He then develops in detail the known facts as to nuclear weapons and their consequences and U.S. policies and plans concerning such matters. He describes the risks of deterrence and the existential nature of the effects of nuclear war on human life and civilization. He proceeds to pull it all together, applying the law to the facts and demonstrating that known nuclear weapons effects cannot comply with such legal requirements as those of distinction, proportionality, necessity, precaution, the corollary requirement of controllability, and the law of reprisal. Moxley shows that, when the United States goes to apply international law to potential nuclear weapons uses, it distorts the law as it has itself articulated it, overlooks law in such areas as causation, risk analysis, mens rea, and per se rules, and disregards known risks as to nuclear weapons effects, including radioactive fallout, nuclear winter, electromagnetic pulses, and potential escalation. He then shows that the policy of deterrence is unlawful because the use of such weapons would be unlawful. Moxley urges that the United States and other nuclear weapons States take heed of the requirements of international law as to nuclear weapons threat and use. He argues that law can be a positive force in society’s addressing existential risks posed by nuclear weapons and the policy of nuclear deterrence.
Download or read book Nuclear Weapons under International Law written by Gro Nystuen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.
Download or read book Brotherhood of Doom Memoirs of a Navy Nuclear Weaponsman written by James S. Little and published by BookLocker.com, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-09-21 with total page 996 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "No one knew what our job was on the ship. Navy Nuclear Weaponsmen were shrouded in secrecy, and entrusted with the most powerful deadly weapons on earth. Our families and countrymen's lives depended on how diligently we performed our duties." -Jim Little
Download or read book OKSNAR Fully Assembled State Soviet nuclear weapons in Hungary 1961 1991 written by László Becz and published by Becz László. This book was released on 2019-11-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The concept of using nuclear weapons in an armed conflict during the Cold War stemmed from the Soviet Union's military doctrine. Although the strategic plans of the Soviets have not been made public, we can certainly say that it was an offensive doctrine. To serve this doctrine, nuclear weapons found their way into Hungary in 1961 when the Southern Croup of the Soviet Armed Forced stationed in Hungary acquired aircraft that was capable of carrying such weapons. It was at that time that the first permanent and well-secured storage site for nuclear bombs was built, then several followed through the next decades. The Southern front of the Soviet and Hungarian combined nuclear forces and warhead inventories were more than adequate for a successful and massive tactical nuclear strikes. The authors spent nearly 10 years to collect and analyze information, documents, and photographic evidence about nuclear weapons in Hungary. Their book is focused not only on nuclear weapons but their delivery systems, storages and military units which were connected to nuclear weapons in Hungary. Also, focusing on the political decisions, Warsaw Pacts plans and how many nuclear warheads could be stationed in Hungary between 1961-1991. The book contains 650 photos, 3D renders and drawings including many unpublished photographs.
Download or read book International Control of Tritium for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament written by Martin B. Kalinowski and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2004-03-29 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tritium is used by all nuclear weapons states to increase the explosive yield of atomic bombs and to miniaturize them. However, this radioactive material has not yet been put under appropriate international control comparable to the nuclear safeguards applied for plutonium and uranium. It is a neglected material in efforts to control the spread and
Download or read book Handbook on Nuclear Law written by Carlton Stoiber and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook is a practical aid to legislative drafting that brings together, for the first time, model texts of provisions covering all aspects of nuclear law in a consolidated form. Organized along the same lines as the Handbook on Nuclear Law, published by the IAEA in 2003, and containing updated material on new legal developments, this publication represents an important companion resource for the development of new or revised nuclear legislation, as well as for instruction in the fundamentals of nuclear law. It will be particularly useful for those Member States embarking on new or expanding existing nuclear programmes.
Download or read book A Technical History of America s Nuclear Weapons written by Peter a Goetz and published by . This book was released on 2020-09-10 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the Second Edition of A Technical History of America's Nuclear Weapons: Volume I - Introduction and Nuclear Developments Through 1960. It is called a technical history because it focuses on nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons (delivery) systems. The people, laboratories, and politicians who championed these weapons have been dealt with by other authors. For the convenience of the Reader, Volume I has an introductory section that places the American nuclear arsenal into its historical context and provides the basic technical background needed to understand the weapon's mechanisms. Included are chapters on weapon design, the military-industrial complex, and stockpile logistics. These are followed by a discussion intended to clearly convey what would have happened if nuclear weapons were ever put to use. The introduction closes with a review of early warning and targeting, nuclear war plans, the deployment of nuclear forces, and the evolution of strategic doctrine during the period of the Cold War. It also includes sections on non-proliferation and the current management of the US Nuclear Stockpile. This story is told in a straightforward easy to understand manner. The use of equations is shunned. Albert Einstein declared that if you can't tell a story without the use of mathematics, you really don't understand your subject matter. The second half of Volume I examines early American nuclear weapons and delivery systems. It combines development histories with engineering descriptions to illustrate the performance characteristics of the weapons and the design challenges that faced their developers. Basic data about weapon operation, delivery systems, and deployments are also included. Like the First Edition, this Second Edition is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs.Volume I: 1) Has about 1,000 selected references, grouped into related categories 2) Uses official Military Characteristic (Parts) Numbers for components where available, a very useful tool for internet searches 3)Provides detailed information on the production of uranium and its enrichment in for use in nuclear weapons 4) Provides detailed information on the recovery of plutonium from spent fuel rods and the casting of plutonium cores 5) Outlines the evolution of nuclear pits: solid, composite, levitated, hollow, boosted, linear and linear boosted. 6) Provides information on explosives and the methods used to compress fissile cores, especially the plastic bonded explosives (PBX) produced at the Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Kingsport, Tennessee 7) Outlines the development of the batteries and the arming, fuzing, and firing (X-Unit) systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs 8) Outlines the internal and external electronic neutron initiation systems used in various nuclear MARKs and MODs 9)Describes boosted warheads, the forerunners to the hydrogen bomb 10) Follows the race to develop hydrogen bombs and investigates the first generation of multi-megaton weapons and their delivery aircraft.
Download or read book The Swords of Armageddon written by Chuck Hansen and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes technical glossary, descriptions of weapons physics; postwar technological innovations in fission weapons design; a history of American thermonuclear weaponry; individual warhead histories; a history and description of warhead arming and fuzing techniques and equipment, plus three detailed appendices summarizing the objectives and results of U.S. nuclear tests between 1945 and 1962; warhead specifications, and typical nuclear weapons accidents between 1950 and 1986. Also includes issues 1-6 of the newsletter: The cutting edge.
Download or read book The Nuclear Taboo written by Nina Tannenwald and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-12-20 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' in favour of what she calls a nuclear taboo - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, the forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War 1991) and examines how the nuclear taboo has repeatedly dissuaded US and other world leaders from resorting to these 'ultimate weapons'. Through a systematic analysis, Tannenwald challenges conventional conceptions of deterrence and offers a compelling argument on the moral bases of nuclear restraint as well as an important insight into how nuclear war can be avoided in the future.
Download or read book Imaginary Weapons written by Sharon Weinberger and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the work of a team of fringe scientists who are working on "isomer weapon" technology--a grenade-sized bomb capable of atomic-level destruction--in an account that discusses the exorbitant amounts of money allocated by the Pentagon for its development and the scientific battle being waged between military officials and top nuclear scientists.