Nuclear proliferation

Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile materials, or weapons-making capabilities to additional states or nonstate actors.

Uranium enrichment: A process that raises the proportion of uranium-235 in uranium. It can produce reactor fuel or, at high enrichment, weapons-usable material.
Manhattan Project: The United States-led wartime program that developed the first nuclear weapons. Its success began the nuclear age and established the first case of weapons technology spreading.
Abdul Qadeer Khan: A Pakistani metallurgist who helped develop Pakistan's uranium-enrichment program and ran a clandestine proliferation network. His network transferred enrichment designs and equipment to several countries.
North Korea and weapons of mass destruction: North Korea's programs to develop nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. North Korea withdrew from the NPT and became the only state to test nuclear weapons after withdrawing.
Nuclear deterrence: A strategy that seeks to prevent attack by threatening unacceptable nuclear retaliation. New nuclear-armed states alter deterrence relationships and the calculations of rivals.
Plutonium: A radioactive chemical element whose isotope plutonium-239 can sustain nuclear fission. Plutonium separated from spent fuel can provide a route to a nuclear weapon.
Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet program that developed the first Soviet nuclear weapon, tested in 1949. The Soviet test ended the United States' nuclear monopoly and intensified proliferation concerns.
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: An Indian aerospace scientist and political leader associated with India's missile and nuclear programs. His career illustrates how domestic scientific institutions can support a state's weapons capability.
Iran nuclear program: Iran's nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, which have been subject to international negotiations and monitoring. The program illustrates disputes over whether sensitive civilian capabilities create a weapons pathway.
Extended deterrence: A security commitment in which one state threatens retaliation to defend an ally. Allied guarantees can discourage states from seeking independent nuclear arsenals.

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