Nuclear Hostages. [Constraint on potential aggressor with power plant as target]
The global spread of nuclear reactors for the production of energy seems inevitable. Nuclear power plants will be supplied--if not by the United States, then by one of several other exporters. But other aspects of this development are less certain. One is the relationship between proliferation of nuclear energy plants and that of nuclear weapons. Another is the actual constraint that such vulnerable potential targets as nuclear power plants would have on would-be aggressors. In the last analysis, this would depend on the rationality of a nation's leadership. What can be said for the concept of nuclear power plants as potential hostages is that by installing a reactor on its territory, a country increases its vulnerability to grave, possibly unacceptable damage in the event of war. As a result, that nation's leaders might be inclined to raise the threshold of their sensitivity to provocation by neighbors and to restrain their own inclinations toward aggression. Admittedly this is a frail substitute for robust international agreements, but in the present order of things it is not a trivial consideration. Many incidents once regarded by the great powers as easi belli have more recently been either resolved by diplomacy or ignored altogether. The idea must not be pressed too far. The export of a nuclear power plant to a Third World country cannot be advocated simply as a means to constrain its own military adventurism. Aside from the promise of a vast increase in energy supply for developing nations, nuclear powered generating stations could actually improve relations among countries. The risk of widespread radioactive contamination by nuclear power plants hit by even conventional bombs could introduce a positive new element into the military calculations of powers outside the NATO-Warsaw Pact arena. As they balance military and diplomatic solutions to local conflicts, moderation rather than bellicosity might become the better part of valor.
- Research Organization:
- Inst. for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge, TN
- OSTI ID:
- 6609675
- Journal Information:
- Foreign Policy; (United States), Vol. 32
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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290600* - Energy Planning & Policy- Nuclear Energy
220901 - Nuclear Reactor Technology- Reactor Safety- Accident Liability