This second volume identifies and evaluates Cold War residual consequences, especially those related to nuclear weapons and their evolution. It provides a knowledgeable assessment of current risks and future potential of peaceful nuclear technology and inherited nuclear weapons. In this revised edition, a comparative assessment has been included of the nuclear accidents at Fukushima (Japan), Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island reactors. The respective roles of the three volumes in "Nuclear Insights" Volume 1 is a insider history of nuclear weapons development during the Cold War, and Volume 3 is a technically informed perspective about nuclear reductions and arms control. Thus, Volume 2 reports on and examines current nuclear technology, peaceful applications, and proliferation risks. All three volumes are unique, having originated with a written collaboration by four nuclear scientists and engineers, from both sides of the Cold War Iron Curtain, all of whom had hands-on experience with nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors.

"Nuclear Reductions (A Technically Informed Perspective)" completes a comprehensive 3-volume series, "Nuclear Insights: The Cold War Legacy." It is the unique technical qualifications and relevant experience of the lead author and his colleagues that brings to permanence a thorough history and evaluation of nuclear weaponry, including their origin, testing, stockpiles, delivery systems, and the current institutional burden. What to do with them, how to reduce the risk of nuclear accidents, and how to eliminate unnecessary systems and materials are the primary topics of this culminating volume. It's one thing to wish for and come out in favor of nuclear reductions; it's another (not so straightforward) matter to make permanent reductions.

This first of two volumes reviews the history of nuclear-weapons development during the Cold War, as well as attempts to limit and control the nuclear arms race.