Adventures In The Far Reaches

Introduction

THERE ARE EIGHT countries today who openly declared their possession of weapons of mass destruction – the United States, China, France, North Korea, Pakistan, India, Russia and the United Kingdom. Israel, though not acknowledged, is also believed to possess nuclear weapons. They belong to the so-called "nuclear club."

Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT), signed in 1968, these countries, and the other non-nuclear states, have pledged not to pursue the manufacture of nuclear weapons. North Korea, Pakistan, India and Israel have withdrawn or never signed the agreement, thereby maintaining their right to develop nuclear weapons.

In 2006, Iran, a party to the NPT, announced its success of enriching uranium to reactor-grade, saying it has finally "joined the group of those countries with nuclear technology." But according to intelligence reports, Iran is also actively seeking the development of its own arsenal in secrecy, though it has repeatedly denied such allegations, saying that their nuclear enrichment program is for providing the country with clean nuclear power. President George W. Bush has said that Iran is the "single country" that could pose the biggest threat to the United States, and that it's very important to "prevent the country from obtaining the knowledge necessary" to develop nuclear weapons, warning that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III.

Despite sanctions, Iran still continues its uranium enrichment programs. A 2012 CIA report suggests that the country is still far away from achieving weapons-grade uranium, the kind of enriched uranium necessary for nuclear weapons. However, Iran has not opened all of its nuclear facilities for inspection. It is also suggested that Iran is assisted by its nuclear allies North Korea, Pakistan and Russia in the development of these weapons. Today, efforts are still being made through treaties and imposition of further sanctions to prevent Iran from getting further ahead in its nuclear ambitions.

Worldwide, there are an estimated 19,000 nuclear warheads, enough to destroy the world three times over. Russia has an estimated 8,500 warheads and the United States, 7,700. It is feared that some of them, particularly those from the former Soviet Union, have been circulating in the black market, available for terrorist organizations to use. Al Qaeda has publicly expressed their interest in the possession of weapons of mass destruction, as surely would other terrorist circles, both known and unknown, too.

For more than 60 years of measures to counter nuclear weapons proliferation, none has ever succeeded in eliminating the world's stock of nuclear bombs. The threat of a nuclear holocaust remains very real.

What follows is a possibility.