Piece Description

The Three Mile Island nuclear disaster, weapons of mass destruction, and the threat of dirty radiological bombs have resulted in widespread fear of all things nuclear. Justified or not, these realities fuse the threats not only associated with nuclear weapons but nuclear energy as well. Even before news anchors learned to pronounce the word Chernobyl, it was apparent that the Ukrainian city would become synonymous with the worst nuclear accident the world has yet seen. Back in April 1986, of course, no one was predicting that the Soviet Union would, within 5 1/2 years, fall apart. When it did, the United States moved quickly to help safeguard nuclear materials on Ukrainian soil...partly because of the scare caused by the meltdown of reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. Today efforts are still under way to ensure that the enormous formerly Soviet stockpile of nuclear materials does not fall into the hands of terrorists. But elsewhere in the world, the Bush administration has been seeking to expand the abilities of some US allies to operate in the nuclear sphere, not contain them. Simon Marks traveled to India and Ukraine to explore the multi-faceted and often contradictory approaches that successive US governments have adopted toward non-proliferation. Simon Marks' report, released in May 2007, is part of the documentary special "Beyond Fear: America's Role in an Uncertain World" produced by the Stanley Foundation and KQED Public Radio. Read transcripts of what Senators Richard Lugar and Sam Nunn have to say about US nuclear policy at http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/articles.cfm?ID=402 and http://www.stanleyfoundation.org/articles.cfm?ID=404