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Why Nuclear Energy Programs Rarely Lead to Proliferation

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A worker checks the radioactivity of drums containing nuclear waste at Yonggwang Nuclear Power Site in Yonggwang, South Korea.
A worker checks the radioactivity of drums containing nuclear waste at Yonggwang Nuclear Power Site in Yonggwang, South Korea, Thursday, April 20, 2006. 

Summary

Contrary to conventional wisdom, states with nuclear energy programs are not more likely than those without them to seek or acquire nuclear weapons, for two reasons. Nuclear energy programs attract monitoring that can detect weapons programs, and they make potential proliferators more vulnerable to nonproliferation sanctions. The United States should therefore bolster nonproliferation intelligence-gathering efforts and enhance its capacity to inflict costly sanctions on proliferators.

Recommended citation

Nicholas L. Miller, "Why Nuclear Energy Programs Rarely Lead to Proliferation," International Security, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Fall 2017), pp. 40–77, doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00293.

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