Nuclear Weapons
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U.S. Must Stand Firm in North Korea Nuclear Talks, Experts Say
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009The Obama administration must take a firm line on North Korean denuclearization in order to ensure that the Stalinist state does not essentially make itself into a nuclear power by continually extending the ...
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Kenya to Surrender Seized Uranium for Analysis
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009Kenya planned to send a cache of seized uranium abroad for analysis after the nation's measurement equipment failed to determine the full radiation level emitted by the material, the Nairobi Daily Nation ...
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Iran Poses Main Mideast Challenge, Bush Adviser Says
Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009Iran is likely to be the greatest Middle East policy challenge for U.S. President-elect Barack Obama when he takes office this month, President George W. Bush's national security adviser warned yesterday (see ...
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Major U.S. Trade Mission to Discuss Nuclear Sales in India
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009A large group of U.S. nuclear industry officials plans to hold meetings in India this week, signaling progress toward implementing the nuclear trade deal completed last year by the two nations, the Times of ...
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Russia to Modernize Strategic Bombers
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009Russia intends this year to conduct significant modernization programs for its fleet of strategic bombers, United Press International reported (see GSN, Oct. 24, 2008). ...
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White House Emphasizes Success in North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009The White House this week highlighted efforts to shutter North Korea's nuclear operations among the Bush administration's foreign policy successes over the last eight years, the Yonhap News Agency reported ...
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Tennessee Site to Begin HEU Storage in 2010
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009A recently completed highly enriched uranium storage center at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee is not expected to begin receiving nuclear bomb fuel for more than a year, the Knoxville ...
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Iranian Nuclear Work Threatens Region, Says Israeli Official
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009 Israel's ambassador to the United States has warned that Iran's controversial nuclear activities are "the most critical issue for America and the Western world" and could ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, Newsweek reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 24, 2008). The United States and other Western powers have urged Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, which can produce nuclear power plant fuel but also a key nuclear bomb ingredient. Tehran insists its nuclear work has no military component. "The closer they get to having a bomb, and the closer they are perceived to be, you can expect Iran's neighbors to start acting on the assumption that Iran is going to have a bomb," Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor said, adding that Iran would acquire enough low-enriched uranium this year to ultimately power one weapon (see GSN, Dec. 3, 2008). -
Bush Ratifies Long-Awaited IAEA Additional Protocol Agreement
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 WASHINGTON -- U.S. President George W. Bush last week formally approved the Additional Protocol to the nation's nuclear inspections agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the State Department announced (see GSN, Feb. 6, 2008). Bush's signed the protocol's instrument of ratification on Tuesday. The new program is set to take effect tomorrow when U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA Gregory Schulte submits the document to the Vienna-based agency, according to an IAEA official. The need for the Additional Protocol emerged following the 1991 Gulf War when international inspectors in Iraq uncovered a massive, multipronged uranium enrichment program that Baghdad had successfully hidden from the agency for years while remaining in official good standing with its Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty obligations. -
Russia Commissions New ICBMs
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009Russia has deployed a group of Topol-M ICBMs roughly 150 miles northeast of Moscow, the Associated Press reported last month (see GSN, Dec. 23, 2008). ...
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U.S., Lebanon Sign Cargo Scanning Deal
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009The United States and Lebanon have signed an agreement to deploy U.S. radiation detection equipment at two Lebanese seaports, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced last week (see GSN, ...
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Japan, South Africa Nominate Candidates for IAEA Chief
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009Japan and South Africa have each endorsed candidates to lead the International Atomic Energy Agency when Director General Mohamed ElBaradei's third and final term lapses at the end of November, the U.N. ...
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India, Pakistan Swap Nuclear Data
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009India and Pakistan last week traded data on each nation's nuclear facilities, adhering to a 1988 confidence-building measure that requires annual information sharing, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry ...
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South Korea Warns of Second North Nuclear Test
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 South Korea warned last week that the North might threaten to conduct another nuclear blast or test additional ballistic missiles in an effort to strengthen its position in negotiations over its nuclear program, the Korea Times reported (see GSN, Dec. 24, 2008). A follow-up to Pyongyang's October 2006 nuclear test could be an attempt to move away from six-nation talks in favor of direct diplomacy with the incoming Obama administration in the United States, according to a report from the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, an organization linked to the South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry. "Given its previous behavior, we cannot rule out the possibility that North Korea may threaten to suspend its denuclearization process, boycott the six-party talks and fire missiles or a nuclear weapon to get attention from the Obama administration or increase its leverage in the six-party forum,'' the report says. -
Switzerland Releases Khan Network Suspect
Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 Switzerland has freed the second of three engineers believed to have provided nuclear-weapon design details to Iran and Libya through a nuclear smuggling ring once run by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the New York Times reported last week (see GSN, June 17, 2008). Urs Tinner was held for more than four years before his release on Dec. 22, according to Swiss officials. He remains under investigation with his brother Marco and father Friedrich for allegedly smuggling the design details in violation of Swiss trade law. Friedrich Tinner was released in 2006, but the Swiss attorney general called on Dec. 21 for Marco Tinner to remain confined due to concerns that he might still be able to obtain sensitive weapons technology. One relative said the family might soon learn the possible length of Marco Tinner's jail term, adding that the situation"has been very, very painful for a lot of people."