Jennifer Huo

Russia
Future of Nuclear Power

Background:

On August 6 and 9, 1945, two nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing
a total of about 200,000 innocent civilians. In order to refrain countries from using these
weapons of mass destruction, the International Atomic Energy Agency was created. This
independent intergovernmental organization of the United Nations focuses on achieving three
things: security, safety, and safe technology transfer for nuclear power. Security means that
the UN has to regulate the States compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Safety means to maintain high levels of safety when using nuclear energy, making sure to
protect human health and the environment against radiation. Safe technology transfer means
that Member States can only transfer peaceful technology and knowledge, such as ways to
disarm a nuclear weapon. The IAEA is working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

State Position:

During the Cold War, from 1945-1991, the United States and Russia were in the midst of a
battle to see who could create the most nuclear weapons to best defend their country. In 1986,
Russia had a peak stockpile of 45,000 nuclear warheads. This was 13,000 more than the United
States had at the time, and was a number that had enough explosives to destroy the entire
world. Either country could have suffered from miscalculation, which would have led to the
death of all. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War ended and finally the
world was brought to peace. Part of this peace was because both countries had signed the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on July 1, 1968, along with the worlds other largest nuclear
powers, like France, China, and the United Kingdom. The NPT stated that nuclear-power states
could not give nuclear weapons or technology to make them to non-nuclear states. Russia has
since been following the NPT treaty and has even disarmed most of its nuclear weapons,
leaving only 8,500 left. Russia thinks that all nuclear weapons from the world should eventually
be disarmed, but countries can still use nuclear power as a source of clean energy.

Solutions:

The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between
the United States and the Russian Federation. It was signed on April 8, 2010, and entered into
force on February 5, 2011. This treaty states that by February 5, 2021, both countries must
reduce the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers by half. In order to solve the future of
nuclear power, Russia wants all nuclear-power states, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Israel to join the
new START and join forces to eventually disarm all nuclear weapons in the world. For those
countries who are not willing to participate in the new START, such as Iran, who wants nuclear
weapons in order to protect its countrys sovereignty, will be given assurance that all countries
will be rid of nuclear weapons by the end of this treaty and will remain as impotent as the rest.