Internatıonal Nuclear Nonprolıferatıon Efforts: Thorıum As a Vıable Alternatıve to Prevent Dıversıon

Abstract

International nuclear nonproliferation efforts have been one of the most important agendas of international relations after the World War II. Since the first aim of nuclear energy was for the military purposes and destructive power of nuclear weapons were experienced in a wartime, it has been inevitable for great powers to go into an arms race to obtain nuclear weapons. However, nuclear energy is a kind of energy which can be utilized for peaceful purposes as well as military purposes. In this context, initiatives have been started to promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes such as medicine, agriculture and electricity generation in order to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Due to the dual use aspect of nuclear energy, certain measures have been developed in safety, security, and safeguards so that the opportunities offered for peaceful purposes are not diverted into military purposes. However, these measures are needed to be further strengthened in technical terms with regard to the nuclear power reactors, which are closely related to the nuclear fuel cycle. Because, using uranium as a nuclear fuel can facilitate diversion of peaceful use in certain stages of nuclear fuel cycle. Therefore, this thesis deals with the contribution of thorium as a nuclear fuel and its fuel cycle to the international nuclear nonproliferation regime and the mitigation of proliferation concerns.