Nuclear Power - Disadvantages and various International treaties for arms reduction
Nuclear Power – Disadvantages and various International treaties for arms reduction
Throw some light on the disadvantages of nuclear power and discuss the various international treaties to reduce nuclear arms
Disadvantages of nuclear energy
1. Risk of Nuclear accidents – Chernobyl, Three Mile Island accident and Fukushima. Major impact on human life
2. Meltdowns can render areas uninhabitable for very long periods.
3. Difficulty in the management radioactive nuclear waste which takes many years to eliminate. Radioactive wastes take almost 10,000 years to get back to the original form.
4. Expiration date of nuclear reactors - they've to be dismantled.
5. Nuclear plants have a limited life. The energy generated is cheap compared to the cost of fuel, but the recovery of its construction is much more expensive.
6. Nuclear power plants have threat from terrorist organizations. It undergoes vulnerability of nuclear plants to attack
7. Nuclear power plants generate external dependence if a country does not sufficient have uranium mines
8. If a country has uranium mines it might not have nuclear technology
9. Current nuclear reactors work by fission nuclear reactions. These chain reaction are generated, if control systems fail generating continuous reactions causing a radioactive explosion that would be virtually impossible to contain.
10. Use of the nuclear power in the military industry that world has witnessed after two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan during World War II. This was the first and the last time that nuclear power was used in a military attack. The risk that nuclear weapons could be used in the future will always exist.
Different international treaties that aim to arms reduction
• Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) 1963 - Prohibited all testing of nuclear weapons except underground.
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)—signed 1968, came into force 1970: An international treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. The treaty has three main pillars: nonproliferation, disarmament, and the right to peacefully use nuclear technology.
• Interim Agreement on Offensive Arms (SALT I) 1972 - The Soviet Union and the United States agreed to a freeze in the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) that they would deploy.
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) 1972 - The United States and Soviet Union could deploy ABM interceptors at two sites, each with up to 100 ground-based launchers for ABM interceptor missiles. In a 1974 Protocol, the US and Soviet Union agreed to only deploy an ABM system to one site.
• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) 1979 - Replacing SALT I, SALT II limited both the Soviet Union and the United States to an equal number of ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers, and heavy bombers. Also placed limits on Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles (MIRVS).
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) 1987 - Created a global ban on short- and long-range nuclear weapons systems, as well as an intrusive verification regime.
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) - Signed 1991, ratified 1994: Limited long-range nuclear forces in the United States and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union to 6,000 attributed warheads on 1,600 ballistic missiles and bombers.
• Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II) - Signed 1993, never put into force: START II was a bilateral agreement between the US and Russia which attempted to commit each side to deploy no more than 3,000 to 3,500 warheads by December 2007 and also included a prohibition against deploying multiple independent reentry vehicles (MIRVs) on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
• Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT or Moscow Treaty) - Signed 2002, into force 2003: A very loose treaty that is often criticized by arms control advocates for its ambiguity and lack of depth, Russia and the United States agreed to reduce their "strategic nuclear warheads" (a term that remain undefined in the treaty) to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012. Was superseded by New Start Treaty in 2010.
• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) - Signed 1996, not yet in force: The CTBT is an international treaty (currently with 181 state signatures and 148 state ratifications) that bans all nuclear explosions in all environments. While the treaty is not in force, Russia has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1990 and the United States has not since 1992.
• New START Treaty - Signed 2010, into force in 2011: replaces SORT treaty, reduces deployed nuclear warheads by about half, will remain into force until at least 2021.
