Uranium Enrichment and the NPT: Preventing the Next Iran

Iran's alleged clandestine pursuit of a nuclear-weapon capability dominated the headlines last week during the ongoing Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. However, beyond the theatrics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's verbal exchange, it is important to remember, and ultimately to address, the root cause of the Iranian nuclear problem -- namely, the spread of dual-use technologies such as uranium enrichment to countries outside the ring of first-order world powers.

The problem with uranium enrichment is its ambiguity: It is a vital component of the civilian nuclear power industry, yet it can also be used to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. The same centrifuges that enrich natural uranium to the levels required by many civilian power reactors can also enrich uranium to the high levels required by nuclear bombs. ...