This piece, originally published in The Los Angeles Times, addresses the nuclear non-proliferation policy of the Reagan administration. The authors argue that the policy had the unintended consequence of spreading nuclear bombs, subverting genuine non-proliferation progress, destabilizing allied governments, raising energy prices and prolonging dependence on foreign oil. They argue that these results arose from misunderstanding the link between nuclear power and nuclear bombs, the economics of energy and the realities of nuclear politics abroad.