"I assert that the development of nuclear technology is one of the necessary conditions for the preservation of the economic and political independence of every country of those that have already reached a high development state as well as those that are just developing. For the countries of western Europe and Japan, the importance of nuclear technology is particularly great. If the economy of these countries continues to be dependent on the supply of chemicals fuels from the USSR or from countries which are under her influence, the West will find itself under the constant threat of the cutting off of these channels. " Andrei Sakharov, The bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 1978