World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium, 1992

Albright, David, and Berkhout, Frans, and Walker, William

ISBN 10: 0198291531 / ISBN 13: 9780198291534

Edité par SIPRI [Stockholm International Peace Research Institute] and Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993

A propos de cet article

xxv, [1], 246 pages. Footnotes. Glossary. Abbreviations, acronyms and conventions. Sources. Tables. Figures. Index. Stamp of institution on verso. Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) are the basic materials used in nuclear weapons. Plutonium also plays an important part in the generation of nuclear electricity. Knowing how much plutonium and HEU exists, where and in which form is vital for international security and nuclear commerce. For the first time, this book provides a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of the amounts of plutonium and HEU in military and civilian programs, in nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states, and in countries seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. The capabilities that exist for producing these materials around the world are examined in depth. Containing much new information, this book is indispensable to all those concerned with three great contemporary issues in international nuclear relations: arms reductions in the United States and the former Soviet Union, nuclear proliferation, and the roles of plutonium and enriched uranium in the nuclear fuel-cycle. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) is an international institute based in Sweden, dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. Established in 1966, SIPRI provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public. In 1964, Prime Minister of Sweden Tage Erlander put forward the idea of establishing a peace research institute to commemorate Sweden's 150 years of unbroken peace. A Swedish Royal Commission chaired by Ambassador Alva Myrdal proposed in its 1966 report to establish an institute, later named the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI. The Commission recommended that research be concentrated on armaments, their limitation and reduction, and arms control. SIPRI has built its reputation and standing on competence, professional skills, and the collection of hard data and precise facts, rendering accessible impartial information on weapon developments, arms transfers and production, military expenditure, as well as on arms limitations, reductions and disarmament. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus.

N° de réf. du vendeur 74859

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium, 1992
• Éditeur: SIPRI [Stockholm International Peace Research Institute] and Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Date de parution: 1993
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0198291531
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780198291534
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: Edition originale
• État de l'article: Good
• État de la jaquette: Fair
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Plutonium

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) were first introduced fifty years ago. In the Manhattan project the amounts separated were measured in kilograms, enough for the first atomic bombs. Today there are about 1000 tonnes of plutonium and 1300 tonnes of HEU in existence, the result of the great expansion of nuclear weapon and nuclear power programmes in recent decades. Controlling and disposing of these vast quantities is now one of the most serious challenges facing the international community.

Despite the great significance of plutonium and HEU for international security and nuclear commerce, there are no international statistics on these materials. Information on them is generally classified in countries possessing or trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and holders of civil materials only give information to safeguards agencies on condition that it remains confidential. This book fills the gap. It provides for the first time a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the amounts of plutonium and HEU in military and civilian programmes, country by country.

World Inventory of Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1992 is based on knowledge of how nuclear reactors, reprocessing and enrichment plants have been operated around the world. Step by step, it explains how civil and military nuclear programmes have been run, which technologies and facilities have been used, and what has happened to the materials produced by them. It details the huge amounts of plutonium and HEU that will be extracted from dismantled weapons as the United States and the former Soviet Union reduce their nuclear arsenals, and the equally large amounts of plutonium that will be separated from civil fuels in Britain, France, Japan and Russia if reprocessing plans are implemented. It also contains the most thorough examination yet of the efforts by Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, India and a few other countries to acquire the materials needed to build nuclear weapons. And throughout, the book points out the main uncertainties over the quantities and whereabouts of these vital materials.

The book ends by stressing the need to end the over-supply of civil plutonium and to develop plans for disposing of surplus stocks of both plutonium and HEU. Much of the plutonium will have to be treated as a waste, while the HEU can be diluted and used as nuclear fuel. It also calls on the international community to end the secrecy surrounding these materials. The United Nations should publish annual statistics on every country's holdings of plutonium and HEU, including materials in nuclear weapon states.

Revue de presse

This volume provides the only comprehensive assessment of how much plutonium and highly enriched uranium - the basic ingredients of nuclear weapons - exists in the world today, and where and in which form they are to be found. Given the crucial importance of this information for global security, the World Inventory is essential reading for all interested in international affairs and an indispensable reference book for researchers. (Frank Barnaby, Nature)

A timely and very useful tool for those interested in nuclear non-proliferation ... it is the first report that has been published with so broad a scope ... obviously the produce of a prodigious amount of painstaking research, analysis and synthesis ... This is a first class new reference work for profesionals in the field and is, at the same time, quite accessible to lay readers interested in a fuller understanding of the facts. (Arms Control Today)

Given the crucial importance of this information for global security, the World Inventory is essential reading for all interested in international affairs and an indispensable reference book for researchers. (Nature)

In a remarkable roundup, the authors do their best to reconcile their own estimates with figures reported under the safeguards regime. In addition they make valuable estimates of nuclear materials held by de facto nuclear states. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

It is an inspiring example of painstaking research, embroidered with little comment, the numbers speak for themselves... The book is a powerful argument for establishing an international register of fissile materials. (Mike Townsley, Safe Energy, No. 95, June/July 1993.)

a timely and very useful tool for those interested in nuclear non-proliferation ... It is the first report that has been published with so broad a scope ... Obviously the product of a prodigious amount of painstaking research, analysis and synthesis ... The book has a wealth of useful tables, graphs and other figures ... This is a first-class new reference work for professionals in the field and is, at the same time, quite accessible to lay readers interested in a fuller understanding of the facts. (Arms Control Today)

In a remarkable roundup, the authors do their best to reconcile their own estimates with figures reported under the safeguards regime. In addition they make valuable estimates of nuclear materials held by de facto nuclear states (The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

This highly technical and detailed book sets out to inventory global stocks and analyse the operation of civil and military programmes ... It certainly represents an important new source of information. (Jane's Intelligence Review)

SIPRI's study is a remarkably impressive attempt to describe and analyze the presence, functions and future of these materials throughout the world ... Another excellent aspect of the study is a thoughtful and carefully considered discussion of options for the control and disposal of plutonium and highly enriched uranium ... this is one of SIPRI's best contributions to the literature on disarmament and proliferation control for some years, and is a powerful reminder of why SIPRI is such an important research center. (Paul Rogers, Defense Analysis)