Politics, Security and Nuclear Abolition: Beyond the Idealist Rhetoric
D isarmament and non-proliferation are rightfully viewed as two sides of the same coin: the two imperatives that need to be met if the prospect of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons is to be realised. Although the existence of a link between the two concepts is obvious, the exact nature of this connection is perhaps not as clear. The central question here is whether it is politics or strategic realities that shape states’ nuclear options and by implication, the two-fold road to global zero. Its answer is of great importance, indicating which tools and policies can be most appropriate for achieving this goal. This commentary employs logical/theoretical as well as factual analysis in order to show that the link between disarmament and nonproliferation is conditioned primarily by strategic realities rather than politics.
The Rise and Fall of the South African Bomb
South Africa built six nuclear weapons in the 1970s and 1980s and then scrapped them in 1990–91. As one of the few states to produce nuclear weapons and the only one to dismantle an indigenous arsenal, the South African case presents a rare opportunity to study the causes of nuclear acquisition and disarmament. This article examines the political history of the South African bomb and the light it sheds on three general sources of nuclear weapons policy: security incentives, organizational politics, and international pressure along with state sensitivity to such pressure. It is based on published research as well as dozens of interviews with South African nuclear policymakers. Ofacial South African accounts and some scholarly studies stress the changing security threat to South Africa as the mainspring behind the nuclear weapons program’s development and ultimate demise. Although the militarization and dismantlement of the program did coincide with the vicissitudes of threats The Rise and Fall of the South African Bomb Peter Liberman
A comparison of experimental thermal stratification parameters for an oil/pebble-bed thermal energy storage (TES) system during charging
Six different experimental thermal stratification evaluation parameters during charging for an oil/pebble-bed TES system are presented. The six parameters are the temperature distribution along the height of the storage tank at different time intervals, the charging energy efficiency, the charging exergy efficiency, the stratification number, the Reynolds number and the Richardson number. These parameters are evaluated under six different experimental charging conditions. Temperature distribution along the height of the storage tank at different time intervals and the stratification number are parameters found to describe thermal stratification quantitatively adequately. On the other-hand, the charging exergy efficiency and the Reynolds number give important information about describing thermal stratification qualitatively and should be used with care. The charging energy efficiency and the Richardson number have no clear relationship with thermal stratification.