Thursday, January 8, 2009

SS Course 2009: Recent Problems in Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Course 192
Date: Wednesday 21 January
Time: 1.00 pm
Full Price: R54,00 Staff: R27,00 Reduced: R14,00
***Tickets are on sale at the door only if seats are available: R60,00; staff & reduced (on production of cards): R32,00.

Recent Problems in Nuclear Non-Profileration
Presented by David Wolfe, Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico and Director, Oppenheimer Institute for Science and International Co-operation.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed 40 years ago by over 170 nations. It requires adherence to a basic set of rules designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. It requires the five nations who have weapons (the USA, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China) to reduce their numbers and eventually disarm. Further, it requires non-weapons states to permit United Nations access to all sites and it expects access to information where any fissionable material is used, such as in reactors. Although it is not perfect, the treaty has worked relatively well in the past. Changes and updates are now urgently needed.

This lunch-time lecture aims to convince students of the severe threat to humankind that nuclear weapons represent. It will discuss their dangers, the advantages and disadvantages of the NPT, and the ease of constructing a weapon given the correct material. Since gaining access to fissile material is a core concern, it will explore the problems of enrichment of uranium, using Iran as an example.

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