World atlas of nuclear industry: civil and military

Todays, with the energy supplies and global warming concerns, nuclear energy in making a come-back, witness the numerous nuclear programs launched or re-launched in the US, in Europe, China and India. In parallel, on the military side, the deterrence strategy remains in the center of security politics of big powers. This atlas takes stock of the overall issues linked with the nuclear technology: production, civil applications (power generation, medicine etc..), military usages (naval propulsion, weapons). It answers the main questions of this complex world, often dominated by secrecy: who does what in the nuclear domain in France? Is an accident, like the Chernobyl's one, possible today in Europe? What solutions for radioactive wastes? Do we take risks when we export our reactor technologies to Middle-East countries? Are we at the dawn of a new arms rush? What do international agreements foresee in this domain? Taking into account the costs, the hazards and the advantages of nuclear industry, the atlas shows that it is possible to establish solid technical and legal barriers between its civil and military sides. (J.S.)