Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons

Download Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Seeking the Bomb

Author : Vipin Narang
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691172625
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Seeking the Bomb by : Vipin Narang

Download or read book Seeking the Bomb written by Vipin Narang and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first systematic look at the different strategies that states employ in their pursuit of nuclear weapons Much of the work on nuclear proliferation has focused on why states pursue nuclear weapons. The question of how states pursue nuclear weapons has received little attention. Seeking the Bomb is the first book to analyze this topic by examining which strategies of nuclear proliferation are available to aspirants, why aspirants select one strategy over another, and how this matters to international politics. Looking at a wide range of nations, from India and Japan to the Soviet Union and North Korea to Iraq and Iran, Vipin Narang develops an original typology of proliferation strategies—hedging, sprinting, sheltered pursuit, and hiding. Each strategy of proliferation provides different opportunities for the development of nuclear weapons, while at the same time presenting distinct vulnerabilities that can be exploited to prevent states from doing so. Narang delves into the crucial implications these strategies have for nuclear proliferation and international security. Hiders, for example, are especially disruptive since either they successfully attain nuclear weapons, irrevocably altering the global power structure, or they are discovered, potentially triggering serious crises or war, as external powers try to halt or reverse a previously clandestine nuclear weapons program. As the international community confronts the next generation of potential nuclear proliferators, Seeking the Bomb explores how global conflict and stability are shaped by the ruthlessly pragmatic ways states choose strategies of proliferation.

The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy

Author : National Academy of Sciences
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309174643
Total Pages : 118 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy by : National Academy of Sciences

Download or read book The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-06-17 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate about appropriate purposes and policies for U.S. nuclear weapons has been under way since the beginning of the nuclear age. With the end of the Cold War, the debate has entered a new phase, propelled by the post-Cold War transformations of the international political landscape. This volumeâ€"based on an exhaustive reexamination of issues addressed in The Future of the U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Relationship (NRC, 1991)â€"describes the state to which U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and policies have evolved since the Cold War ended. The book evaluates a regime of progressive constraints for future U.S. nuclear weapons policy that includes further reductions in nuclear forces, changes in nuclear operations to preserve deterrence but enhance operational safety, and measures to help prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. In addition, it examines the conditions and means by which comprehensive nuclear disarmament could become feasible and desirable.

Nuclear Politics

Author : Alexandre Debs
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107108098
Total Pages : 655 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (71 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Nuclear Politics by : Alexandre Debs

Download or read book Nuclear Politics written by Alexandre Debs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive theory of the causes of nuclear proliferation, alongside an in-depth analysis of sixteen historical cases of nuclear development.

Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons?

Author : Scott Curtice
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 27 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (124 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? by : Scott Curtice

Download or read book Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? written by Scott Curtice and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Why do states acquire nuclear weapons? In this paper, I look at three primary theoretical models of nuclear proliferation--Security Concerns, Domestic Politics, and Norms--and argue that the models inform why states seek nuclear weapons more accurately when applied together as distinct pressures on a state instead of as separate instances of reasoning. These three models are not always complete by themselves, but instead, each model is actually a definition of a pressure or force that acts upon states to move them towards or away from nuclear weapons. When present, these pressures act simultaneously with each other such that there is consistent force working on a state's decisions, potentially over the course of many years with changes to each of the pressures over time. By applying each proliferation model together, I argue that nuclear proliferation occurs when Domestic Politics-Positive pressures and Normative-Positive pressures are greater than Domestic Politics-Negative pressures and Normative-Negative pressures given that a state is facing a Security threat. This hypothesis is scrutinized through the case study of India's proliferation and shows the progressive increase of nu-clear positive pressures vis-à-vis nuclear negative pressures. Ultimately, the nuclear positive pressures exceeded nuclear negative pressures and propelled India from an avowed nuclear disarmament champion to conducting a nuclear test in the span of one decade. In support of current US efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, this enhanced model can be used by policy makers to better understand the nuclear positive and negative pressures on a potential proliferator, which will allow for nonproliferation actors to intervene at critical points and prevent nuclear positive pressure from pushing a state to proliferate as seen in the Indian case."--Abstract.

The Proliferation Puzzle

Author : Zachary S. Davis
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000199703
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (1 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Proliferation Puzzle by : Zachary S. Davis

Download or read book The Proliferation Puzzle written by Zachary S. Davis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1993, this volume was unique in its scope and approach: Unlike most literature on nuclear weapons proliferation at the time, the essays in this volume offer theoretical discussions and suggest testable hypotheses about the causes and effects of nuclear weapons proliferation. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is an ideal subject for social science scholarship, and such scholarship is especially timely now. Among the topics discussed in The Proliferation Puzzle are: The building of nuclear weapons is a complex task touching upon many of the subjects of study at the core of social science and international relations. Nuclear weapons may be acquired as a hedge against external threat, for reasons of national prestige, or as a result of pressures by domestic coalitions among scientists, bureaucrats, and the military. They may be sought for defensive purposes or to support hegemonic aspirations. Nuclear weapons also raise questions about civilian command and control, especially in crisis situations. During the last two decades the acquisition of nuclear weapons has been proscribed by the non-proliferation regime. The decisions countries made about acquiring these weapons and the manner they chose to build them serve as a test of the efficacy of this particular regime, and of international regimes more generally. Nuclear weapons were introduced at the time bipolarity became the international order. As the world moves away from bipolarity, there is a need to answer questions such as: What would be the effect of nuclear weapons in a multipolar order? How will the spread of nuclear weapons affect the distribution of capabilities among states? If nuclear weapons spread to additional countries, will they enhance stability or exacerbate instability? Can the spread of these weapons be managed or controlled? This book brings together scholars from different schools within international relations and the social sciences to address the question of why nuclear weapons spread. A disciplined, rigorous examination of proliferation is important not only for scholarship but also for informed policymaking. The purpose of social science is to formulate hypotheses and devise theories that advance our understanding of society and aid in the fashioning of enlightened policy. The essays in this volume show how explicit hypotheses about the causes and consequences of nuclear weapons proliferation provide a deeper understanding of the problem and suggest specific, theory-informed policy recommendations.

Nuclear Weapons under International Law

Author : Gro Nystuen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139992740
Total Pages : 804 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (399 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Nuclear Weapons under International Law by : Gro Nystuen

Download or read book Nuclear Weapons under International Law written by Gro Nystuen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.

Stopping the Bomb

Author : Nicholas L. Miller
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501717820
Total Pages : 510 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Stopping the Bomb by : Nicholas L. Miller

Download or read book Stopping the Bomb written by Nicholas L. Miller and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-04-15 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an intense and meticulously sourced study on the topic of nuclear weapons proliferation, beginning with America's introduction of the Atomic Age... His book provides a full explanation of America's policy with a time sequence necessarily focusing on the domino effect of states acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and the import of bureaucratic decisions on international political behavior.― Choice Stopping the Bomb examines the historical development and effectiveness of American efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Nicholas L. Miller offers here a novel theory that argues changes in American nonproliferation policy are the keys to understanding the nuclear landscape from the 1960s onward. The Chinese and Indian nuclear tests in the 1960s and 1970s forced the US government, Miller contends, to pay new and considerable attention to the idea of nonproliferation and to reexamine its foreign policies. Stopping the Bomb explores the role of the United States in combating the spread of nuclear weapons, an area often ignored to date. He explains why these changes occurred and how effective US policies have been in preventing countries from seeking and acquiring nuclear weapons. Miller's findings highlight the relatively rapid move from a permissive approach toward allies acquiring nuclear weapons to a more universal nonproliferation policy no matter whether friend or foe. Four in-depth case studies of US nonproliferation policy—toward Taiwan, Pakistan, Iran, and France—elucidate how the United States can compel countries to reverse ongoing nuclear weapons programs. Miller's findings in Stopping the Bomb have important implications for the continued study of nuclear proliferation, US nonproliferation policy, and beyond.

The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

Author : Brad Roberts
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804797153
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century by : Brad Roberts

Download or read book The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century written by Brad Roberts and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-09 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An excellent contribution to the debate on the future role of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence in American foreign policy.” ―Contemporary Security Policy This book is a counter to the conventional wisdom that the United States can and should do more to reduce both the role of nuclear weapons in its security strategies and the number of weapons in its arsenal. The case against nuclear weapons has been made on many grounds—including historical, political, and moral. But, Brad Roberts argues, it has not so far been informed by the experience of the United States since the Cold War in trying to adapt deterrence to a changed world, and to create the conditions that would allow further significant changes to U.S. nuclear policy and posture. Drawing on the author’s experience in the making and implementation of U.S. policy in the Obama administration, this book examines that real-world experience and finds important lessons for the disarmament enterprise. Central conclusions of the work are that other nuclear-armed states are not prepared to join the United States in making reductions, and that unilateral steps by the United States to disarm further would be harmful to its interests and those of its allies. The book ultimately argues in favor of patience and persistence in the implementation of a balanced approach to nuclear strategy that encompasses political efforts to reduce nuclear dangers along with military efforts to deter them. “Well-researched and carefully argued.” ―Foreign Affairs

Nuclear Logics

Author : Etel Solingen
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400828023
Total Pages : 421 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Nuclear Logics by : Etel Solingen

Download or read book Nuclear Logics written by Etel Solingen and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear Logics examines why some states seek nuclear weapons while others renounce them. Looking closely at nine cases in East Asia and the Middle East, Etel Solingen finds two distinct regional patterns. In East Asia, the norm since the late 1960s has been to forswear nuclear weapons, and North Korea, which makes no secret of its nuclear ambitions, is the anomaly. In the Middle East the opposite is the case, with Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Libya suspected of pursuing nuclear-weapons capabilities, with Egypt as the anomaly in recent decades. Identifying the domestic conditions underlying these divergent paths, Solingen argues that there are clear differences between states whose leaders advocate integration in the global economy and those that reject it. Among the former are countries like South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, whose leaders have had stronger incentives to avoid the political, economic, and other costs of acquiring nuclear weapons. The latter, as in most cases in the Middle East, have had stronger incentives to exploit nuclear weapons as tools in nationalist platforms geared to helping their leaders survive in power. Solingen complements her bold argument with other logics explaining nuclear behavior, including security dilemmas, international norms and institutions, and the role of democracy and authoritarianism. Her account charts the most important frontier in understanding nuclear proliferation: grasping the relationship between internal and external political survival. Nuclear Logics is a pioneering book that is certain to provide an invaluable resource for researchers, teachers, and practitioners while reframing the policy debate surrounding nonproliferation.

Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation

Author : Allan S. Krass
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 100020054X
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (2 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation by : Allan S. Krass

Download or read book Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation written by Allan S. Krass and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1983, this book presents both the technical and political information necessary to evaluate the emerging threat to world security posed by recent advances in uranium enrichment technology. Uranium enrichment has played a relatively quiet but important role in the history of efforts by a number of nations to acquire nuclear weapons and by a number of others to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. For many years the uranium enrichment industry was dominated by a single method, gaseous diffusion, which was technically complex, extremely capital-intensive, and highly inefficient in its use of energy. As long as this remained true, only the richest and most technically advanced nations could afford to pursue the enrichment route to weapon acquisition. But during the 1970s this situation changed dramatically. Several new and far more accessible enrichment techniques were developed, stimulated largely by the anticipation of a rapidly growing demand for enrichment services by the world-wide nuclear power industry. This proliferation of new techniques, coupled with the subsequent contraction of the commercial market for enriched uranium, has created a situation in which uranium enrichment technology might well become the most important contributor to further nuclear weapon proliferation. Some of the issues addressed in this book are: A technical analysis of the most important enrichment techniques in a form that is relevant to analysis of proliferation risks; A detailed projection of the world demand for uranium enrichment services; A summary and critique of present institutional non-proliferation arrangements in the world enrichment industry, and An identification of the states most likely to pursue the enrichment route to acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Politics

Author : Alexandre Debs
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108107737
Total Pages : 655 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (81 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Nuclear Politics by : Alexandre Debs

Download or read book Nuclear Politics written by Alexandre Debs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-15 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When do states acquire nuclear weapons? Overturning a decade of scholarship focusing on other factors, Debs and Monteiro show in Nuclear Politics that proliferation is driven by security concerns. Proliferation occurs only when a state has both the willingness and opportunity to build the bomb. A state has the willingness to nuclearize when it faces a serious security threat without the support of a reliable ally. It has the opportunity when its conventional forces or allied protection are sufficient to deter preventive attacks. This explains why so few countries have developed nuclear weapons. Unthreatened or protected states do not want them; weak and unprotected ones cannot get them. This powerful theory combined with extensive historical research on the nuclear trajectory of sixteen countries will make Nuclear Politics a standard reference in international security studies, informing scholarly and policy debates on nuclear proliferation - and US non-proliferation efforts - for decades to come.

Unclear Physics

Author : Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501706454
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Unclear Physics by : Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer

Download or read book Unclear Physics written by Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many authoritarian leaders want nuclear weapons, but few manage to acquire them. Autocrats seeking nuclear weapons fail in different ways and to varying degrees—Iraq almost managed it; Libya did not come close. In Unclear Physics, Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer compares the two failed nuclear weapons programs, showing that state capacity played a crucial role in the trajectory and outcomes of both projects. Braut-Hegghammer draws on a rich set of new primary sources, collected during years of research in archives, fieldwork across the Middle East, and interviews with scientists and decision makers from both states. She gained access to documents and individuals that no other researcher has been able to consult. Her book tells the story of the Iraqi and Libyan programs from their origins in the late 1950s and 1960s until their dismantling.This book reveals contemporary perspectives from scientists and regime officials on the opportunities and challenges facing each project. Many of the findings challenge the conventional wisdom about clandestine weapons programs in closed authoritarian states and their prospects of success or failure. Braut-Hegghammer suggests that scholars and analysts ought to pay closer attention to how state capacity affects nuclear weapons programs in other authoritarian regimes, both in terms of questioning the actual control these leaders have over their nuclear weapons programs and the capability of their scientists to solve complex technical challenges.

The Politics and Technology of Nuclear Proliferation

Author : Robert F. Mozley
Publisher : University of Washington Press
ISBN 13 : 9780295802534
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (25 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Politics and Technology of Nuclear Proliferation by : Robert F. Mozley

Download or read book The Politics and Technology of Nuclear Proliferation written by Robert F. Mozley and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2011-10-01 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Politics and technology intersect in the international effort to prevent nuclear proliferation. Written for scientists, policy makers, journalists, students, and concerned citizens, The Politics and Technology of Nuclear Proliferation makes a highly complex subject understandable. This comprehensive overview provides information about both the basic technologies and the political realities. Methods of producing weapon materials—plutonium and highly enriched uranium—as well as their use in bombs are described in detail, as is the generally successful international effort to prevent the spread of the ability to make nuclear weapons. In explaining the problems the world will face if nuclear weapons become generally available, Mozley summarizes and reviews the methods used to prevent proliferation and describes the status of those nations involved in trade in nuclear materials. He places emphasis on the danger of attack by renegade nations or terrorist groups, particularly the possibility that weapon material might be stolen from the presently impoverished and unstable former Soviet Union.

Atomic Diplomacy

Author : Gar Alperovitz
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780671061500
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (615 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Atomic Diplomacy by : Gar Alperovitz

Download or read book Atomic Diplomacy written by Gar Alperovitz and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Medical Implications of Nuclear War

Author : Fred Solomon
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 9780309078665
Total Pages : 609 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (786 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Medical Implications of Nuclear War by : Fred Solomon

Download or read book The Medical Implications of Nuclear War written by Fred Solomon and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1986-01-15 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by world-renowned scientists, this volume portrays the possible direct and indirect devastation of human health from a nuclear attack. The most comprehensive work yet produced on this subject, The Medical Implications of Nuclear War includes an overview of the potential environmental and physical effects of nuclear bombardment, describes the problems of choosing who among the injured would get the scarce medical care available, addresses the nuclear arms race from a psychosocial perspective, and reviews the medical needs--in contrast to the medical resources likely to be available--after a nuclear attack. "It should serve as the definitive statement on the consequences of nuclear war."--Arms Control Today

The Nuclear Tipping Point

Author : Kurt M. Campbell
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780815796596
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (965 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Nuclear Tipping Point by : Kurt M. Campbell

Download or read book The Nuclear Tipping Point written by Kurt M. Campbell and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2005-06-22 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than half a century after the advent of the nuclear age, is the world approaching a tipping point that will unleash an epidemic of nuclear proliferation? Today many of the building blocks of a nuclear arsenal—scientific and engineering expertise, precision machine tools, software, design information—are more readily available than ever before. The nuclear pretensions of so-called rogue states and terrorist organizations are much discussed. But how firm is the resolve of those countries that historically have chosen to forswear nuclear weapons? A combination of changes in the international environment could set off a domino effect, with countries scrambling to develop nuclear weapons so as not to be left behind—or to develop nuclear "hedge" capacities that would allow them to build nuclear arsenals relatively quickly, if necessary. Th e Nuclear Tipping Point examines the factors, both domestic and transnational, that shape nuclear policy. The authors, distinguished scholars and foreign policy practitioners with extensive government experience, develop a framework for understanding why certain countries may originally have decided to renounce nuclear weapons—and pinpoint some more recent country-specific factors that could give them cause to reconsider. Case studies of eight long-term stalwarts of the nonproliferation regime—Egypt, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Syria, Turkey, and Taiwan—flesh out this framework and show how even these countries might be pushed over the edge of a nuclear tipping point. The authors offer prescriptions that would both prevent such countries from reconsidering their nuclear option and avert proliferation by others. The stakes are enormous and success is far from assured. To keep the tipping point beyond reach, the authors argue, the international community will have to act with unity, imagination, and strength, and Washington's leadership will be essential. Contributors include Leon Feurth, George Wash

Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309270626
Total Pages : 119 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (92 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets by : National Research Council

Download or read book Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-07-17 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fall of 2010, the Office of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Secretary for Science asked for a National Research Council (NRC) committee to investigate the prospects for generating power using inertial confinement fusion (ICF) concepts, acknowledging that a key test of viability for this concept-ignition -could be demonstrated at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the relatively near term. The committee was asked to provide an unclassified report. However, DOE indicated that to fully assess this topic, the committee's deliberations would have to be informed by the results of some classified experiments and information, particularly in the area of ICF targets and nonproliferation. Thus, the Panel on the Assessment of Inertial Confinement Fusion Targets ("the panel") was assembled, composed of experts able to access the needed information. The panel was charged with advising the Committee on the Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems on these issues, both by internal discussion and by this unclassified report. A Panel on Fusion Target Physics ("the panel") will serve as a technical resource to the Committee on Inertial Confinement Energy Systems ("the Committee") and will prepare a report that describes the R&D challenges to providing suitable targets, on the basis of parameters established and provided to the Panel by the Committee. The Panel on Fusion Target Physics will prepare a report that will assess the current performance of fusion targets associated with various ICF concepts in order to understand: 1. The spectrum output; 2. The illumination geometry; 3. The high-gain geometry; and 4. The robustness of the target design. The panel addressed the potential impacts of the use and development of current concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy on the proliferation of nuclear weapons information and technology, as appropriate. The Panel examined technology options, but does not provide recommendations specific to any currently operating or proposed ICF facility.