Would a World without Nuclear Weapons be more or less secure - Essay Example

No: Would a World without Nuclear Weapons be more or less secure? Nuclear technology is not destructive if used for beneficial purposes but if the users are interested to use the technology for disparaging purposes, then it is really lethal for all the human beings on this earth. Every other day, we listen to different kinds of debates related to nuclear technology and weapons present with different nations around the world. These debates are for and against the nuclear weapons but this fact cannot be denied that a world without nuclear weapons would be more secure as people will not have an option for massive destruction. Chernobyl incident, Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attack and Japan’s Fukushima nuclear radiations are the worst lessons which nuclear weapons and energy have taught humankind. Nations must endeavour to use nuclear energy for power generation for meeting the rising energy needs. We cannot say that without nuclear weapons, there would be no fight on this earth but massive massacre can be controlled by putting a check on nuclear weapons and eradicating them altogether from the face of the earth to save humanity. Nuclear weapons can kill not hundreds but thousands and millions of people residing in any country and belonging to any nation within no time and this capability of the weapons makes them extensively vicious and fatal. In the Second World War, United States attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities of Japan with nuclear bombs and its residents are still bearing the consequences of that damaging occurrence. The cities got destructed wholly and this happening cannot be forgotten as it informed about the destructiveness through nuclear weapons (Weart 58). Nuclear technology’s negative usage started from Second World War and at this juncture, many states have nuclear power and can use it when they feel a need. These cities are still suffering from the radiations of nuclear attacks that took place almost half a century ago. After effects of such disasters are long lasting and nations suffer for a prolonged period. People around the world agree that nuclear weapons are disadvantageous for the masses. Perkovich & Acton (2009) inform, “States possess nuclear weapons because they fear they might face threats of massive destruction. If they all get rid of nuclear weapons, major warfare might not break out immediately, but the chances of such conflict coming about would rise dramatically.”this tendency have speed up the race to acquire nuclear weapons for creating a deterrence in the world. This has given value to get nuclear weapon and indulged nations in arm race. (p. 21). The nuclear states around the world feel that a unilateral disarmament must be there to eradicate all the nuclear weapons altogether but this step is quite difficult to take for the countries and their governments, as unilateral disarmament is not accepted by all the countries. Separate disarmament is also a difficult step to be taken by the governments having the nuclear capability because they consider that disarmament will allow other States to attack them. Nuclear states have doubts of outside attack due to which, they do not want to get rid of their nuclear weaponry power. US and Russia have agreed to take measures to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. This step will help the great powers to avoid falling of such lethal weapons in the hands of terrorist organizations (Drell & Goodby 25). Third world countries must be encouraged to dismantle the nuclear facilities and resolve the core issues through peaceful negotiations. Big nations must take first step to save future of world. Russia and America will soon sign strategic arms reduction treaty (START). This treaty would decrease the number of deployed warheads of both the countries from 2200 to 1500. Still both countries will maintain large stocks of short-range nuclear weapons. Both countries still need to negotiate to cut down the stock of 500 warheads each (Eland 2010). With these 500 warheads, America is capable of targeting any corner of Russian land. Short-range weapons of both the countries should be altogether eliminated keeping in view the chances of any war within Europe. This step is important to stop steeling of nuclear weapon by terrorists and then posing threat to any nation of their interest. Russia is more vulnerable in this case, as such incidence of stealing of nuclear material has taken place in the past also (Eland 2010). World must plan to stop proliferation of nuclear devices. United Nations must compel the nations of the world to sign the non-proliferation treaty. Country signing the non-proliferation treaty must be kept under strict observation in order to avoid proliferation. Number of third world countries like India and Pakistan has acquired the nuclear weapons but have not signed the treaty (Perkovich & Acton 15). This may hamper the efforts of world powers to free the world from nuclear weaponry. If the world cannot stop proliferation than it would be almost impossible for humankind to live peacefully in a world that is free of nuclear weapons (Weart 92). Third world countries have also got this technology from big powers due to vested interests of these powers in different regions. All the political and institutional interests must be kept aside and it be made necessary for every nation to sign non-proliferation treaty. Comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) is intended to prohibit all nuclear tests. Pakistan and India have not signed the treaty and other big nations like China has signed but not ratified the treaty. According to Perkovich & Acton (2009), “The central premise behind the CTBT, then, is that a ban on nuclear testing effectively ends the ability of any country to develop and deploy nuclear weapons.” (p. 279) CTBT is for the security of humankind and keeps the ambition that any nuclear weaponry activity can be controlled under the agreement by the signatories. This is the need of the hour to compel the nations of the world to sign and ratify the treaty to safeguard the future generations from worst outcome of these weapons. If nations keep conducting, nuclear tests without signing the treaty then of course the nuclear proliferation would be difficult to stop (Eland 2010). Therefore, international atomic energy agency and United Nations must guide nations to sign both the treaties as a step towards making the world free of nuclear weapons. Due to political and institutional reasons, the treaty could not be fully implemented in the world. Chernobyl disaster is another worst disaster experienced by humankind. On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded releasing huge amount of radioactive material. The radiation was thirty times more than the radiation of nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. More than thirty people had died on the spot leaving thousands and thousands injured. Two to three million people were displaced from the contaminated area and still people are suffering from the contamination of nuclear material. Millions of dollars have been spent to control contamination and inhabit the area. Ukraine faced it as the worst industrial disaster ever took place in the history of humanity (Weart 89). Fukushima nuclear facility was badly hit when a tsunami played havoc with Japan. Large amount of nuclear energy released after a blast in one of the reactor of the power plant. Emergency was declared and thousands of people evacuated to safe places. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind all the natural disasters like, earthquake, tsunami and flood while setting such facilities. International atomic energy agency must find out solutions to save life from such happenings (Caracappa 2011). Nuclear power generation is one of the advantages of nuclear energy. Steps have been taken by different nations to generate electricity and use the nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Asia is leading in number of power reactors in the world. Out of 27, last 19 reactors have been installed in Asia for electricity generation. India is leading in the Asia with almost 5000 Mega watts of electricity generation. This is the other side of the picture, if nations are convinced to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and quit making of lethal weapons than off course we can generate electricity in abundance. IAEA needs to strictly follow the activities and safety measures being followed in the nuclear reactors in all the countries (Drell & Goodby 27). After the Second World War, no country has used the weapons of mass destruction in any adventure against any nation. US, Russia, China, France, India and Pakistan have spent million of dollars in developing nuclear weapons on the cost of economic growth, peaceful use of nuclear energy is the only solution to draw attention from nuclear weapons. Use of nuclear technology in medical sciences, agriculture, power generation and economic development is increasing with every passing day. It is difficult to free the world from nuclear weapons but not impossible. Disarmament of nuclear stock by great powers can give hope to eliminate the weapons for making the world more secure. Nuclear weapons cannot buy peace for any nation. These devices are just a threat and it would always be very difficult for any nation to use these weapons boldly. Works Cited Caracappa, Peter F. Fukushima Accident: Radioactive Releases and Potential Dose Consequences. ANS Annual Meeting, 2011. Retrieved on November 12, 2011 from http://www.ans.org/misc/FukushimaSpecialSession-Caracappa.pdf Drell, Sidney & Goodby, James. The Reality: A Goal of a World without Nuclear Weapons Is Essential. The Washington Quarterly 31 (3) (2008): 23-32. Also available at http://www.twq.com/08summer/docs/08summer_drell-goodby.pdf Eland, Ivan. Will Eliminating Nuclear Weapons Make Peace More Likely? Antiwar.com, 2010. Retrieved on November 12, 2011 from http://original.antiwar.com/eland/2010/03/02/eliminating-nuclear-weapons/ Perkovich, George & Acton, James M. Abolishing Nuclear Weapons: A Debate. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2009. Also available at http://carnegieendowment.org/files/abolishing_nuclear_weapons_debate.pdf Weart, Spencer R. Nuclear Fear: A History of Images. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988. Read More