The future of nuclear weapons and nuclear nonproliferation measures are considered, particularly in light of President Obama's pledge to rid the world of atomic bombs. The author questions the threat that nuclear weapons pose, whether an atomic bomb would cripple the American economy, whether terrorists are likely to acquire Russian warheads, and how they fit into Al Qaeda's current strategy. Adapted from the source document.
"A basic understanding of the science and history of nuclear weapons, including attempts to control, limit, and use them, and the prospects for eliminating them completely."--
Thirty years ago, in 1988, the United States secretly moved to end once and for all Taiwan's nuclear weapons program, just as it was nearing the point of being able to rapidly break out to build nuclear weapons. Because intense secrecy has followed Taiwan's nuclear weapons program and its demise, this book is the first account of that program's history and dismantlement. Taiwan's nuclear weapons program made more progress and was working on much more sophisticated nuclear weapons than publicly recognized. It came dangerously close to fruition. Taipei excelled at the misuse of civilian nuclear programs to seek nuclear weapons and implemented capabilities to significantly reduce the time needed to build them, following a decision to do so. Despite Taiwan's efforts to hide these activities, the United States was able to gather incriminating evidence that allowed it to act, effectively denuclearizing a dangerous, destabilizing program, that if left unchecked, could have set up a potentially disastrous confrontation with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Taiwan case is rich in findings for addressing today's nuclear proliferation challenges
