ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes with particular emphasis on the links with nuclear weapons. It also discusses the measures, both technological and institutional, that can be taken to reduce the danger of horizontal proliferation. The peaceful and military aspects of nuclear energy are intrinsically linked and it is impossible to separate them. The links are psychological, historical and factual. Psychologically, the first time the public at large learned about the release of nuclear energy on a practical scale was the announcement in August 1945 of the destruction of Hiroshima by an atomic bomb. The method of generating electricity in a nuclear power plant is the same as in a coal-fired station: heat is used to produce steam which in turn drives a turbo-alternator. In order to prevent the escape of the radioactive elements which are formed as a result of fission, each rod has to be contained in a vacuum-tight sheath.
