Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation

The authors review state-of-the-art enrichment technology, and evaluate the impact of this technology on the proliferation problem. They place the technological development into the context of the economic and institutional environment that has evolved around the enrichment industry, and suggest some measures which might be taken to reduce the proliferation dangers inherent in the industry. They specifically note the world excess of supply over demand which, coupled with the refusal of a number of countries with enrichment capability to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, intensifies the weapons risk. 336 references, 52 figures, 20 tables.