Deconstructing the Struggle Against Nuclearism

In such a complex and uncertain world, it may help to think like a Hindu, and accept contradiction as more in keeping with social and political reality than is finding a right answer to complex policy puzzles. What is almost impossible for those trained within Western frames of reference is to grasp that there are diverse perspectives of understanding that may result in seemingly contradictory recommendations despite shared values and goals. Civilizational perspectives and personal experience inevitably color what we feel, think, and do, and so being likeminded when it comes abolishing nuclear weapons is often coupled with somewhat divergent views on what to advocate when it comes to tactics and priorities. In this spirit, this paper tries to depict a set of reasons why the goal of nuclear disarmament will never be reached so long as arms control and nonproliferation of nuclear weaponry are seen as the pillars of global stability in the nuclear age.

Application research on neutron-gamma discrimination based on BC501A liquid scintillator

Liquid organic scintillators are widely used in non-destructive analysis, which plays an important role in nuclear disarmament verification. This paper focused on studying the neutron-gamma discrimination technology in the fast neutron multiplicity measuring counter based on BC501A liquid scintillation detector. First, the charge comparison method, the zero-crossing time method and the rise time method were compared via the Geant4 and Matlab algorithm, and the result shows that charge comparison has the highest Figure of Merit. Then, a neutron-gamma discrimination system based on the six-probe fast neutron multiplicity counter was built and tested with a conclusion that the mean value of Figure of merit is 1.08, which verify the satisfactory neutron-gamma discriminating capability of the system. Finally, for the uranium samples, the mass are detected by fast neutron multiplicity counter, and the enrichment are measured by the characteristic gamma-ray signals using the system. The experimental results are in good agreement with the actual data.

Solidarity in Search of Human Agency: ‘Détente from Below’ and Independent Peace Activists in the Soviet Union

While the histories of Western grassroots movements and the officially sanctioned, communist-sponsored peace movement are well known, the independent peace activists of the Soviet bloc have remained footnotes in the history of social movements. The Group for the Establishment of Trust between East and West (the Trust Group) was the largest and most prominent unofficial peace group in the late Soviet Union. Active between 1982 and 1989, its members established significant ties with foreign peace activists. This article considers the agenda, activities and membership of the Trust Group. It contrasts the persecution experienced by this independent movement with the activities of the official, state-sanctioned Soviet Peace Committee (SPC). As the article shows, the Trust Group’s agenda resonated with the concept of ‘détente from below’, as promoted by members of European Nuclear Disarmament (END), including the historian E.P. Thompson. The article traces how Western advocates of ‘détente from below’ sought to support these independent campaigners in the Soviet Union, thus highlighting important East-West dimensions in European peace activism in the 1980s.