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* The inherent dual nature of the power of the atom, as provider of electricity or as a
weapon of mass destruction, has dictated national policies and international security
agendas for decades now.A resurgence of interest in nuclear energy promises a reliable
and environmentallysustainable source of electricity. But it also poses the risk of nuclear
proliferation since mastery of nuclear fuel technology can also bring nations to the technical
threshold of nuclear weapons. The decision, then, to cross the line is a political one.
Except for four countries (India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea), every other nation
is a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This should practically obviate
the possibility of new states going nuclear unless one withdraws from the NPT and makes
the bomb. Yet, the risk of proliferation remains alive.
* Nuclear disarmament provides one plank on which the spread of nuclear energy could
be sustainably reconciled with nuclear non-proliferation. However, not many of those
who matter are yet ready to acknowledge its desirability or feasibility.
It is against the backdrop of this conundrum of nuclear issues that the Centre for
Air Power Studies organised a seminar on Global Nuclear Challenges whose papers
are reproduced in this volume. They reveal the complex interlinkages of contemporary
nuclear concerns. The book should be essential reading for all involved in negotiating the
maze of nuclear challenges confronting mankind today.
*
Dr Manpreet Sethi heads the project on Nuclear Security at the Centre for Air Power
Studies (CAPS) New Delhi. Over the last twelve years, since completion of her Ph.D from the
Latin American Division, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
Delhi, she has focussed on issues related to nuclear strategy, energy, proliferation, export
controls and disarmament. She was earlier on the research faculty of the Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses, New Delhi, from 1997-2001, and has been at CAPS thereafter.
She is the author of Argentina’s Nuclear Policy (1999), co-author of Nuclear Deterrence
and Diplomacy (2004) and editor of Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons (2009). Her
research papers are widely published in national and international journals and books.
She is a visiting lecturer at training establishments of the Indian Armed Forces and a
participant in Track II diplomacy.
Contents : Introduction, Inaugural Address, Accelerating Growth of Nuclear Power in India,
Opening Nuclear Horizons for India,Nuclear Power:Implications for Proliferation ,
State of NPT on the Eve of NPT RevCon 2010, Reconciling Nuclear Power with
Proliferation:Future Challenges,The Role of Nuclear Weapons in the 21St Century,
The Challenge of Restructuring international Security, Security without Nuclear Weapons,
Concluding Remarks, Appendices
ISBN - 9788187966791
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