The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and the Nuclear Weapons Proliferation Implications of Thermonuclear-Fusion Energy Systems

This report contains two parts: (1) A list of “points” highlighting the strategic-political and military-technical reasons and implications of the very probable siting of ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) in Japan, which should be confirmed sometimes in early 2004. (2) A technical analysis of the nuclear weapons proliferation implications of inertialand magnetic-confinement fusion systems substantiating the technical points highlighted in the first part, and showing that while full access to the physics of thermonuclear weapons is the main implication of ICF, full access to large-scale tritium technology is the main proliferation impact of MCF. The conclusion of the report is that siting ITER in a country such as Japan, which already has a large separated-plutonium stockpile, and an ambitious laserdriven ICF program (comparable in size and quality to those of the United States or France), will considerably increase its latent (or virtual) nuclear weapons proliferation status, and foster further nuclear proliferation throughout the world. The safety and environmental problems related to the operation of large-scale fusion facilities such as ITER (which contain massive amounts of hazardous and/or radioactive materials such as tritium, lithium, and beryllium, as well as neutronactivated structural materials) are not addressed in this report.