Nuclear Peril: The Politics of Proliferation

In "Nuclear Peril" Congressman Ed Markey presents a fast-paced and dramatic account of his attempts to block the shipment of 38 tons of uranium to the Tarapur reactor in India. This is a minute-by-minute report on the Congressional debate, the hearings of the Foreign Relations Committee, the intense lobbying efforts from the White House and the State Department. Despite India's refusal to comply with international controls, the Carter Administration approved the shipment rather than risk diplomatic tension with New Delhi. Congress failed by two votes to stop the shipment. Markey seriously questions our foreign policy decision-making process, addressing the larger failure of the international community to halt the spread of nuclear materials. He discusses the weaknesses of international safeguards, the future of nonproliferation efforts under Reagan, and the skeptical reactions to these efforts from the Third World. Most importantly, he explodes the myth that supplying nuclear power to other nations is not the same as spreading nuclear bombs.