Unless we stop the process, there will soon be more atom-bomb
material in civilian nuclear energy programs than now exists in
nuclear arsenals.
Plutonium is being extracted from reactor wastes for use as fuel
in nuclear power plants. Uranium has been enriched to weapons
grade for use as fuel in research reactors.
These civilian, bomb-grade fuels are unnecessary because nuclear
power and research reactors can be run without them.
Reactors can operate on low-grade uranium that cannot be used
in bombs.
The problem may seem complex,
but the likely consequence
is not . . . .
In a flash,
what a nuclear explosion
can do to your livingroom. . . .
Understand that:
The theft of less than 20 pounds of plutonium or
40 pounds of bomb-grade uranium from civilian programs
could result in a nuclear explosion like the 35 kiloton blast
pictured here (equivalent to 70 million pounds of TNT).
With tons of atom-bomb materials in commerce, such
explosions could become commonplace.
Beyond the immediate threat of nuclear smuggling and
nuclear terrorism, there's a larger threat: nations that
stockpile plutonium and bomb-grade uranium for
peaceful purposes can convert these fuels into
nuclear weapons at any time.
That's what Iraq did with its "peaceful" supply of
bomb-grade uranium in 1990 until the Gulf War
interrupted its crash bomb program.
It is not too late to prevent the spread of nuclear
weapons. To find out how . . . .
Go to
1996-2002 Nuclear Control Institute
1000 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 410
Washington, DC, 20036, U.S.A.
Tel: 202-822-8444, Fax: 202-452-0892
E-mail: mail@nci.org
Webmaster: Steven Dolley, NCI Design: ATiTUD.com, e-mail