Appendix 13C. Multilateral control of the nuclear fuel cycle

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Summary

Recent events in Iran have highlighted that the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes provides the means for production of nuclear weapons. The international community has developed three approaches to deal with this problem: the introduction of legal and regulatory barriers to the transfer of technology and sensitive types of materials; the promotion of multilateral arrangements for the joint use, and development or ownership, of sensitive nuclear fuel cycle facilities; and the use of innovative proliferation-resistant nuclear technologies. Nuclear security and energy security developments in 2005 once again prompted discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, and the importance of the latter two was emphasized.

Vitaly Fedchenko (Russia) is a Researcher with the SIPRI Reinforcing European Union Cooperative Threat Reduction Programmes Project, with responsibility for nuclear security issues and EU–Russian relations.