Nuclear Disarmament Measures Must Address Fissile Materials, Experts Say

In order to truly abolish the threats posed by nuclear weapons the international community must take steps to safeguard or eliminate the fissile materials used in both military and civilian sectors, according to a recently released experts report (see GSN, Dec. 11). Although the five nuclear powers designated by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- observe a self-imposed moratorium on the production of fissile material for weapons, there is uncertainty surrounding other nuclear arsenal holders India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea, according to Zia Mian, a scholar at Princeton University's Program on Science and Global Security and a contributor to the report. Additionally, only half of the existing global stockpile of separated plutonium is used for civilian purposes, Mian said. Therefore, "from a point of view of nuclear disarmament, this becomes increasingly a category of material that needs to be controlled."