GBH Openvault

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Ryukichi Imai, 1987

Part of War and Peace in the Nuclear Age.

02/25/1987

Ambassador Ryukichi Imai--journalist, nuclear engineer, and general manager at Japan Atomic Power Company--was Japanese ambassador to the United Nations Disarmament Conference from 1982 to 1987. In the interview he conducted for War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, Imai describes a career in which he became an expert on nuclear energy and non-proliferation in ways that paralleled Japan's stages of harnessing and expanding its reliance on atomic energy. Employed by Japan Atomic Power Company at the first commercial nuclear-power station in the country, Imai worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency to develop safeguards for nuclear technologies. He recalls that in the 1950s, few talked about the link between nuclear energy and weapons. He describes testifying on behalf of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Japan debated for six years before ratifying. Debate centered on whether Japan should have the right to arm itself and on the high costs of safeguards that would handicap industry in the global market. Imai argued in support of the NPT, and he did not want to jeopardize the 1951 mutual-security treaty with the United States that he regarded as paramount to Japan's safety. Imai explains why he believes that Japan will never embark on a nuclear-weapons program. He also predicts that, while Japan stands alone in its reliance on nuclear energy, rising energy prices--even post-Chernobyl--will revive worldwide interest in nuclear power. When U.S. president Jimmy Carter opposed Japan's first reprocessing plant at Tokai, it was Imai whom the Japanese government sent to the United States. There he successfully negotiated a solution with former colleague Joseph Nye, then deputy to the undersecretary of state for security assistance, science, and technology.

Series

War and Peace in the Nuclear Age

Program

Carter's New World

Program Number

109

Title

Interview with Ryukichi Imai, 1987

Series Description

The first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, changed the world forever. This series chronicles these changes and the history of a new era. It traces the development of nuclear weapons, the evolution of nuclear strategy, and the politics of a world with the power to destroy itself.

In thirteen one-hour programs that combine historic footage and recent interviews with key American, Soviet, and European participants, the nuclear age unfolds: the origin and evolution of nuclear weapons; the people of the past who have shaped the events of the present; the ideas and issues that political leaders, scientists, and the public at large must confront, and the prospects for the future. Nuclear Age highlights the profound changes in contemporary thinking imposed by the advent of nuclear weapons. Series release date: 1/1989

Program Description

President Carter comes to office determined to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and to improve relations with the Soviet Union. His frustrations are as grand as his intentions.

Carter had hoped the United States and the Soviet Union would reduce their reliance on nuclear weapons. He stopped production of the B-1 bomber. He believed the SALT II negotiations would be a step toward eliminating nuclear weapons. But his intentions were frustrated by Soviet actions and by a lack of consensus among his own advisors, including Chief SALT II negotiator Paul Warnke and national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (who was dubious about arms control). Carter balanced Soviet aggression in Africa by improving American relations with China. He withdrew SALT II treaty from Senate consideration but its terms continued to serve as general limits on strategic nuclear force levels for both the United States and the Soviet Union.

Duration

01:13:57

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Subjects

Pakistan

Nuclear weapons

Nuclear energy

World War II

Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968)

Nuclear arms control

Hiroshima-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945

United States

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963)

Japan

Atoms for Peace (U.S.)

Middle East

International Atomic Energy Agency

Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Chornobyl?, Ukraine, 1986

Carter, Jimmy, 1924-

Peace movements

Nye, Joseph S.

Nuclear nonproliferation

Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1968)

Nuclear weapons -- Testing

Locations

Tokyo, Japan

Genres

Documentary

Topics

War and Conflict

Global Affairs

History

Science

Contributors

Imai, Ryukichi, 1929- (Interviewee)

Publication Information

WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Ryukichi Imai, 1987,” 02/25/1987, GBH Archives, accessed April 19, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5B86C6499D254E3EA8B96CD8CCB372E8.

MLA: “War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Ryukichi Imai, 1987.” 02/25/1987. GBH Archives. Web. April 19, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5B86C6499D254E3EA8B96CD8CCB372E8>.

APA: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Carter's New World; Interview with Ryukichi Imai, 1987. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_5B86C6499D254E3EA8B96CD8CCB372E8