| Summary: |
“Order†and “disorder†have shaped the nuclear world. Nuclear fission is
the process of splitting the center of an atom to set in motion a process of
radioactive decay. The remarkable scientific discovery of how to make and
sustain such a chain reaction to generate incredible amounts of energy produced
some of humankind’s loftiest aspirations as well as its most apocalyptic
nightmares. In its utopian incarnation of nuclear energy, nuclear fission
can solve our most pressing energy needs—it
can deliver us from the
environmental limits of relentless capital accumulation and consumerism
and, indeed, reign us back from the portending dystopia of global climate
change. But in its dystopian incarnation, nuclear fission—now
not so well
contained within an exploding concrete structure (Fukushima Daiichi),
now in the form of uncontrolled destruction inflicted on hapless innocents
(Hiroshima and Nagasaki)—becomes
a nuclear nightmare. An appreciation
for this enormous potential of nuclear decentering and the desire
to harness its possibilities and control its dangers generated a “global
nuclear order,†centered on a much-celebrated
and extremely important
treaty—the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT). The NPT was one
among many efforts to craft a global nuclear order to restrain the dangers
of nuclear power, while liberating its “peaceful†possibilities for the larger
collective good.
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