It is widely believed that elements of the Indian scientific community, rather than the Indian military, have led the push for India’s nuclear weapons program. In developing countries, nuclear technology has often been viewed as a passport to the first world and to the bureaucratic self aggrandizement of the nuclear establishment, factors evident in the development of the nuclear capacity of India, for example.
This factor certainly played a role in the efforts of the United Kingdom and France to develop nuclear weapons as an instrument to gain a place at the table among the great powers. There are, however, other factors that are much more difficult to analyze because of their political nature, namely the “status” and prestige associated with mastering nuclear technologies. These are sensible reasons for countries to examine the nuclear option seriously. Nuclear energy can contribute to energy security, reducing or eliminating the need for natural gas or other fossil fuels now used frequently for electricity generation.The eventual introduction of a carbon tax on fossil fuel use, as one instrument to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from thermoelectric stations, would make nuclear-generated electricity more competitive vis-à-vis the use of natural gas and other fossil fuels for that purpose.Nuclear-generated electricity contributes little, on a life-cycle basis, to greenhouse gas emissions and could therefore help in solving global warming problems.After 20 years of stagnation, plans to use nuclear power for electricity generation are being revived around the world, usually for the following reasons:
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