Year
1975
Abstract
The policy of the United States toward international safeguards and toward international nuclear affairs in general must rest on the recognition that nuclear technology offers both real benefits, as well as serious dangers to mankind. On the one hand, this technology has proven to be a source of lowcost electrical energy. The recent phenomenal rise in the price of fossil fuels and the insecurity of oil supplied have led more and more countries to nuclear power for meeting an increasing share of their energy needs. On the other hand, we cannot fail to recognize that the materials involved in this technology can be used for the development of nuclear weapons, nuclear explosive devices and radiological contaminants. India's detonation of a nuclear device last May provides us with a conspicuous reminder of this dual nature of nuclear technology.