ABSTRACT
It is generally believed that, at the present rate of consumption, the world’s remaining oil resources that can be ultimately recovered amount to less than a 100-year supply. Two-thirds of these resources are located in the Middle East and North Africa and in countries with centrally planned economies; the amount left in the rest of the world is about a 40-year supply. Poor countries of the ‘South’ account for three-quarters of the world’s population but have per capita incomes on average only one-tenth as large as in the rich countries of the ‘North’. This income disparity is a crucial factor responsible for the grave and worsening crisis characterizing the world economy. The proliferation risk increases enormously if plutonium is recovered from spent reactor fuel and is recycled in fresh fuel.
