Business and Nonproliferation: Industry's Role in
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Banks, John P. / Ebinger, Charles K., PUBLISHER: Brookings Institution Press, The rapid increase in global demand for electricity and increased concerns over energy security and greenhouse gas emissions have led to a renewed interest in civilian nuclear power worldwide that some are calling a "nuclear renaissance." "Business and Nonproliferation" presents the results of a Brookings research effort examining the implications of a dramatic increase in global nuclear power capacity on the nuclear nonproliferation regime and the role of the commercial nuclear industry in strengthening it. Expansion of civilian nuclear energy will result in wider diffusion of nuclear materials, technologies, and knowledge placing additional pressures on an already fragile nonproliferation regime. In the first section, John Banks, Charles Ebinger, and their contributors provide an overview of the changing landscape of nuclear energy and nonproliferation by examining specific emerging challenges to the nonproliferation regime, market trends in the commercial nuclear fuel cycle, and the geopolitical and commercial implications of new nuclear energy states in developing countries. The book's second section addresses the broad question of how, given the global expansion of civilian nuclear power, the nuclear industry can become a more active, sustained partner in efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The contributors analyze the results of their outreach to stakeholders in the nuclear energy community, specifically industry's views on weaknesses in the nonproliferation regime, multinational and multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle, and mechanisms for industry self-regulation. Contributors include Michael Moodie (Congressional Research Service), Lawrence Scheinman (James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Monterey Institute of International Studies), and Sharon Squassoni (Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies).