ABSTRACT
A nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August and another on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. Some of the scientists believed that the hydrogen bomb was a possibility which could escalate the destructive power of a nuclear warhead from kilotons to megatons. So, in the immediate aftermath of Hiroshima, a widespread belief emerged that a world with nuclear weapons would be very dangerous. By the end of the nineteen-fifties, the debate about the elimination of nuclear weapons had become part of the discussion on general and complete disarmament. Since a nuclear-weapon-free world regime, with an enforceable Treaty, is potentially an effective and legitimate way in which such proliferation might be prevented, this risk of proliferation can better be used as an argument for getting rid of nuclear weapons rather than as an argument for retaining them. International scientific associations should be encouraged to join in the process of societal verification.
