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Reuben Steff and Robert G. Patman: No nukes still right option for NZ – National – NZ Herald News

Reuben Steff and Robert G. Patman: No nukes still right option for NZ

Dec 17, 2008
New Zealand Herald Reuben Steff and Robert G. Patman -“…………………….The option of nuclear energy in New Zealand should not be divorced from its sobering political-strategic context…………………

It is believed that five of the eight nuclear weapon states have recently exploited their civilian nuclear programmes for military purposes. Forty-eight other countries today are reported to have gained the technical knowledge relevant to the construction of nuclear weapons.

More worryingly, it is possible that failing states, especially those located in unstable or climate change susceptible regions of the world, could be tempted to develop existing civilian nuclear facilities into full-blown military programmes.

In this new international energy context, New Zealand’s credentials as a committed and strong supporter of non-proliferation have obtained a new importance for global security. It is worth recalling that the Lange government of the mid-1980s embraced a non-nuclear security policy.

Over time, the rejection of nuclear weapons became linked in New Zealand with the rejection of nuclear energy. We believe it would now be wrong for New Zealand to backtrack on its non-nuclear stance. For one thing, New Zealand can call on its extensive renewable energy resources to address the problem of dwindling fossil fuels………………………Whatever short-term benefits may be offered to New Zealand by the nuclear energy option, these are dwarfed by the terrible costs of becoming complicit in a global order that fuels the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ultimately undermines the security of New Zealand and all other members of the international community.

Reuben Steff and Robert G. Patman: No nukes still right option for NZ – National – NZ Herald News

December 18, 2008 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized