Nuclear catastrophe 'inevitable'
18:0001/06/2009
'MOSCOW, June 1 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian political expert has told RIA Novosti that the international community is not paying enough attention to the threat of an imminent nuclear catastrophe.
"Today we are rightly worried about problems such as the possible development of the economic crisis, a H1N1 pandemic, and ecological safety. However, humanity is not paying attention to the increasing potential for a nuclear catastrophe," said Vladimir Kulagin, professor of global politics at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
He also said that the peaceful use of nuclear energy had increased massively following a fall-off after the Chernobyl disaster, and that its further growth would "invariably" lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
"The possibility of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists is being underestimated," he said, adding that global non-proliferation efforts were failing like never before.
Kulagin also criticized global efforts at encouraging disarmament.
"It's unfashionable to resist disarmament efforts," he said. "However, many states and political figures consider it a waste of time to undertake this."
"This is likely to continue until nuclear weapons are inevitably used," he warned. "It would be better if this use were confined to a regional scale, for example if the Koreas or Iran or some terrorists use a few warheads somewhere on the planet. Then, it seems, humanity will recognize that the so-called idealists who are calling for the total destruction of nuclear weapons were right. Only then, it appears, will movement towards a nuclear zero and real nuclear safety begin."
