US Politics And Foreign Affairs Surrounding Nuclear Power

The first event that people think of when discussing US politics and foreign affairs surrounding nuclear power is the WWII development and deployment of the first atomic bomb. It is well known that weapons of mass destruction are used in a game of nuclear power and security between the US and its foreign relations. However, the US and its use of the atomic bomb is not its only relationship with atomic energy. The development of peaceful nuclear technology for a nuclear power plant, capable of generating cheap and clean energy, opened doors to an entirely new period of connotations of the US nuclear sect. The US has enjoyed a leadership role in the civil nuclear energy industry since its conception and has shaped as well as benefitted from

A new use of the energy also emerged at this time. This was the newfound concept of using the ability to construct nuclear energy power plants as an export commodity. It is no secret that the demand for high-quality commodities, components and services provides an export opportunity for US manufacturers. Nuclear energy was in the same respects a high-quality commodity and nations such as the US who were capable of supplying nuclear plant technology, supply or construction took advantage of the new global demand by creating an export industry from one nation to another. The US as well as other major states with nuclear capability such as the Soviet Union, Canada, France, Japan, the UK and West Germany soon realized the trade and export possibility of nuclear fissile material, supply and technology. Nuclear energy soon became even more so a game of international relations with major nuclear powers engaging in export competition with its allies. In an obligation to promote peace and democratic practice, the US sought to share the cheap and efficient energy not only with its allies, but also more specifically with developing nations. Because the US was a leader and a global figure in the “atoms for peace” initiative, they were obliged to provide "abundant electrical energy in the power-starved areas of the world” (Eisenhower

The fissile material and nuclear technology transferred by nuclear suppliers is a dual-use commodity. Supplying the material with little safeguards and controls downplay the very possible capability for nations to misuse nuclear material by transferring the product into military use to create a weapon of mass destruction. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968, a system of safeguards imposed on all nuclear capable states, as well as an emerging inspection system under the International Atomic Energy Agency was not able to warrant enough caution to nuclear states that were enjoying a high level of export freedom. It was only a matter of time before a deal would be made without major control or policy and with the illusion of false