The U.S. Has Failed In Containing North Korea`s And Iran`s Nuclear Programs

North Korean And Iranian officials meeting in North Korea. Photo from Arms Control Wonk

U.S. Struggling To Contain Nuclear Threats From North Korea, Iran -- Washington Post

After more than four years of diplomacy, the Obama administration is struggling to contain the nuclear threats posed by North Korea and Iran, a pair of nations already isolated internationally and resistant to the economic incentives offered in return for an end to their programs.

The nuclear ambitions of both countries predate the Obama administration, which has focused its efforts on international diplomacy to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to stop North Korea from restarting its once-
dormant nuclear program.

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My Comment: The White House does not have a plan .... but then again .... neither does anyone else.

Report: Large Cut In Warheads Recommended

October 25, 2011: Parts of a B53 nuclear bomb are pictured prior to shredding at the B&W Pantex nuclear weapons storage facility outside Amarillo, Texas, in this handout photograph. (Reuters)

Former Commander Of U.S. Nuclear Forces Calls For Large Cut In Warheads -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — Gen. James E. Cartwright, the retired vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former commander of the United States’ nuclear forces, is adding his voice to those who are calling for a drastic reduction in the number of nuclear warheads below the levels set by agreements with Russia.

General Cartwright said that the United States’ nuclear deterrence could be guaranteed with a total arsenal of 900 warheads, and with only half of them deployed at any one time. Even those in the field would be taken off hair triggers, requiring 24 to 72 hours for launching, to reduce the chance of accidental war.

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More News On Recommendations To Drastically Slash U.S. Nuclear Forces

Influential panel calls for steep reduction of US nuclear weapons -- Fox News/AP
Major Cuts in US Nuclear Arms Urged -- Voice of America
US deterrent ‘too strong’ says former nuclear chief -- Scotsman
James Cartwright Calls For Deep Cuts In Nuclear Arms -- Huffington Post
A relic of another era -- David E. Hoffman, Foreign Policy

Presdient Obama Travels To South Korea This Weekend For Nuclear Summit

Obama Trip To Seoul To Be Overshadowed By Standoff With North Korea -- Washington Post

As President Obama arrives in Seoul on Sunday to join world leaders at a nuclear security summit, his hopes of demonstrating international progress toward keeping fissile materials away from terrorists will be superceded by the more urgent nuclear standoff with North Korea.

Obama is scheduled to open the three-day trip by making his first visit to the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula, where he will have a chance to reaffirm the U.S. alliance with the South at a time of renewed saber-rattling from Pyongyang.

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More News On President Obama's Trip To South Korea

Fears About North Korea and Iran Will Dominate Nuclear Summit Meeting in Seoul -- New York Times
Obama to South Korea for DMZ Visit, Nuclear Summit -- ABC News
Obama to Leave on 3-Day Visit to South Korea for Nuclear Security Summit -- FOX News
Obama Heading to South Korea for Nuclear Summit -- Voice of America
Obama to tour DMZ before Seoul nuclear summit -- Globe and Mail
The Korean DMZ: What Might Obama See? -- Voice of America
N. Korea nuclear issue will be on minds of summit players -- USA Today
South Korea prepares for high-profile nuclear summit -- CNN
At Nuclear Summit, Obama Faces Prospect of a North Korean Deal Gone Bad -- Time
Obama to Seoul for nuclear security summit -- Foreign Policy

Tons Of U.S. Nuclear Material Missing

U.S. Can’t Track Tons of Weapons-Grade Uranium, Plutonium -- Danger Room

President Obama has repeatedly said his top counter-terrorism goal is to prevent terrorists from acquiring the building blocks to make nuclear or “dirty” bombs. In April of 2009, Obama announced a new international effort to “secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” Since then, the Department of Energy has dispatched scientists around the globe to collect hundreds of pounds of the stuff.

But according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), issued late last Friday afternoon to little fanfare, thousands of pounds of highly-enriched uranium and separated plutonium remain. American officials may never get a chance to ensure its security.

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My Comment: Let us hope (and I know that hope is not a strategy or effective policy) .... that this is just a simple and (cough, cough) inconsequential internal inventory problem.

Technology Advances Making Nuclear Fuel Processing Easier

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Laser Advances in Nuclear Fuel Stir Terror Fear -- New York Times

Scientists have long sought easier ways to make the costly material known as enriched uranium — the fuel of nuclear reactors and bombs, now produced only in giant industrial plants.



One idea, a half-century old, has been to do it with nothing more substantial than lasers and their rays of concentrated light. This futuristic approach has always proved too expensive and difficult for anything but laboratory experimentation.



Until now.



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My Comment: The genie is out of the box, and I do not see how they can put it back into the bottle.

Will The Global Economic Crisis Result In Asian Countries Buying Nuclear Arsenals?

Global Crisis Could Increase Nuke Danger -- Canberra Times

More Asian Pacific nations could buy nuclear arsenals if the global economic crisis gets worse, a senior Defence analyst has warned.



The Australian Strategic Policy Institute director, Major-General Peter Abigail (retired), also said Australia was committed to standing with the United States in any future conflict with China and that Defence should not rule out buying nuclear submarines.



He told the institute’s international conference in Canberra that Australian Defence planning was in disarray because of deferred spending during the first global financial crisis and warned the ‘‘Force 2030’’ envisaged in the 2009 Defence white paper would be late.



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My Comment: Will Asian countries be tempted to acquire nuclear weapons in the event of the global economic crisis (getting worse) .... I hope not. fortunately, there are efforts to block this temptation, but I am skeptical that it will be respected in the end.

A CIA Link To A Nuclear Smuggling Ring

Swiss Men With CIA Links Face Nuclear Secrets Trial -- The Independent

A judge yesterday called for the prosecution of three Swiss engineers suspected of smuggling nuclear weapons technology following allegations that the US pressured Switzerland to destroy incriminating evidence to conceal their work for the CIA.

Swiss federal magistrate Andreas Mueller made his recommendations at the end of a six-year investigation into the activities of engineers Urs Tinner, his brother Marco and their father Friedrich, who were arrested in 2004 on suspicion of smuggling but later released. They said they had worked for the CIA since 2003 as informers.

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More News On The Case of Three Swiss Engineers Accused Of Smuggling Nuclear Technology To Iran

Smuggling Charges Recommended Against Swiss Engineers -Prosecutors Office -- Wall Street Journal
Lessons not yet learned in Tinner nuclear case -- Swiss Info
Swiss Magistrate Recommends Charges Against Nuclear Smuggling Suspects -- Global Security Newswire
Swiss Official Urges 3 Charged With Nuke Smuggling -- ABC News
3 face Swiss prosecution for atomic crimes -- UPI
C.I.A. Secrets Could Surface in Swiss Nuclear Case -- New York Times

Wikileaks Reveals How The U.S. Is Tackling Nuclear Threats

WikiLeaks Cables: How US 'Second Line Of Defence' Tackles Nuclear Threat -- The Guardian

Diplomatic dispatches reveal world of smugglers, ex-military fixers and radioactive materials found in unlikely locations.

The leaked US cables reveal the constant, largely unseen, work by American diplomatic missions around the world to try to keep the atomic genie in its bottle and forestall the nightmare of a terrorist nuclear attack.

The leaked cables tell hair-raising tales of casks of uranium found in wicker baskets in Burundi, a retired Russian general offering to sell "uranium plates" in Portugal, and a radioactive Armenian car on the Georgian border.

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My Comment: This constant vigilance and battle to limit nuclear proliferation is vastly and consistently under-reported. Kudos to the men and women who take it upon themselves to make sure that the unthinkable does not happen one day.

Belarus To Scrap It's Highly-Enriched Uranium Stocks

Belarus Promises To Eliminate Highly-Enriched Uranium -- The Telegraph

Belarus has promised to eliminate its stocks of highly-enriched uranium by 2012, the material that can be used to form the warhead of a nuclear bomb.

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, won the pledge from Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov after talks on the sidelines of the OSCE summit in the Kazakhstan capital Astana.

"Foreign Minister Martynov announced that Belarus has decided to eliminate all of its stocks of highly enriched uranium and intends to do so by the next nuclear security summit in 2012," said a joint statement.

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More News On Belarus Giving Up On It's Stocks Of Highly-Enriched Uranium

Belarus agrees to give up stockpile of highly enriched uranium -- Washington Post
Belarus Pledges at Summit to Eliminate Highly Enriched Uranium Stockpiles -- Bloomberg
Belarus Vows to Eliminate Bomb-Grade Uranium -- Global Security Newswire
Belarus to eliminate uranium stockpile -- UPI
Belarus to Scrap Uranium Stockpile -- AOL News
Belarus to Give Up Uranium Stockpile -- New York Times
Belarus to scrap high enriched uranium stocks-U.S. -- Reuters
Former Soviet republic giving up nuclear materials -- AP
Belarus to scrap highly-enriched uranium stocks -- RIA Novosti

A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Going Nuke In A Few Easy Steps

The Bomb for Beginners: A Do-It-Yourself Guide To Going Nuke In A Few Easy Steps -- IP Global

Building a nuclear weapon has never been easier. NATO’s Michael Rühle provides step-by-step instructions for going nuclear, from discretely collecting material to minimizing the fallout when caught. These simple steps have worked for the likes of Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea, among others. The nuclear club is open to your country, too.

Tired of being bossed around? Want your neighbors to treat you with more respect? Want to play in the majors? If so, you have to have your own nukes.

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Hat Tip: Good Shit

My Comment: I know the author is being satirical .... but he is also 'dead on' with how the nuclear proliferation game is going on.

CIA Forms A New Group To Combat The Spread Of WMDs

CIA Opens Center To Prevent Spread Of Dangerous Weapons, Technology -- NextGov

The CIA today announced the creation of a counterproliferation center that will lead the agency's efforts to detect and prevent the spread of dangerous weapons and technology.

The agency has worked on improving its counterprofileration capabilities since coming to the failed judgment in 2003 that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, a conclusion that soon led to the U.S. invasion of the country. The new center will merge the CIA's counterproliferation division within the National Clandestine Service with parts of the agency's Directorate of Intelligence.

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More News On the CIA Forming A Cneter To prevent The Spread Of WNDs

CIA forms new center to combat nukes, WMDs -- AP
CIA Expands Hunt For Weapons -- U.S. News And World Report
CIA creates new counter-proliferation center -- Washington Post
CIA's new centre will combat WMDs -- Press Association

My Comment: I was surprised to read this story .... I always thought that the CIA already had such a group dedicated to preventing the spread of WMDs.

Governments Are Trying To Put The A.Q. Khan Nuclear-Smuggling Network Together Again

Nuke-Smuggling Network In Demand -- Washington Times

Agents seek to lure group 'out of retirement'.

Scientists, engineers and financiers involved in the A.Q. Khan nuclear-smuggling network are being contacted by several governments in an effort to lure these specialists out of retirement.

The development is raising concerns among U.S. intelligence agencies about the revival of the proliferation network that was thought to have been shut down years ago.

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Update: Nations Said to Court A.Q. Khan Associates -- Global Security Newswire

My Comment: As the international politics behind Iran's nuclear program has revealed .... aside from sanctions (which are defeated with regularity) .... there is very little if any consequences for a nation to pursue a nuclear weapons program.

The Coming Explosion Of Nuclear Proliferation In South East Asia

Nuclear Proliferation In South Asia: The Power Of Nightmares -- The Economist

China’s proposed sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan will intensify nuclear rivalry with India. But the damage will go far wider.

AT FIRST sight, China’s proposed sale of two civilian nuclear-power reactors to Pakistan hardly seems a danger sign. Pakistan already has the bomb, so it has all the nuclear secrets it needs. Next-door India has the bomb too, and has been seeking similar deals with other countries.

Yet the sale (really a gift, as Pakistan is broke) has caused shudders at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an informal cartel of countries who want to stop their advanced nuclear technology getting into the wrong hands. They are meeting in New Zealand, for what was supposed to be a quiet and nerdish rule-tightening session. But their efforts may now fall victim to China’s rivalry with America.

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My Comment: A sobering assessment on how international politics can impact the transfer of nuclear technology .... while ignoring the pathetic safeguards and commitments of securing such technology from the recipients of this tech.

Jordan Wants To Be A Nuclear Power

'Jordan Seeks To Be A Nuclear Power' -- Jerusalem Post

Abdullah tells 'Wall Street Journal' Israel trying to sabotage deals.

Jordan is set on becoming the Middle East's newest nuclear power, Jordanian King Abdullah told the Wall Street Journal in an interview over the weekend.

In the interview, King Abdullah accused Israel of pressuring countries like South Korea and France not to provide nuclear technology to Jordan. He said Israel's "underhanded" actions had helped bring Jordanian-Israeli relations to their lowest point since the 1994 peace agreement.

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More News On Jordan's Goal Of Becoming A Nuclear Power

Jordan's Nuclear Ambitions Pose Quandary for the U.S. -- Wall Street Journal
Jordan's Atomic Desires Test Obama's Nuclear Agenda -- Global Security Newswire
King of Jordan accuses Israel of 'underhand' plot to thwart nuclear project -- The Independent
Jordan: Israel is trying to thwart our nuclear program -- Haaretz
Jordan's King Bashes Israel for Stopping His Nuke Plans -- Arutz Sheva
Jordan's nuclear program disturbs Israel -- UPI
Jordan, Japan to Sign Nuclear Cooperation Agreement -- CRIEnglish
Jordan, Japan agree draft nuclear agreement -- Jordan Times

Asia Is On The Brink Of Nuclear Proliferation

China’s DF-31A ICBM. Photo from China-Defense-Mashup

Grappling With Nuclear Asia -- Richard Weitz, The Diplomat

The latest NPT review had interesting implications for Asia's nuclear security. But securing binding agreements was tough.

Last month saw the conclusion of the eighth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (otherwise known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT) in New York City. Membership in the NPT is virtually universal. At present, it has 189 states parties—more than any other disarmament treaty—with only 4 countries recognized by the United Nations that are not members. But this broad tent makes significant progress extremely difficult.

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My Comment: In a nut shell .... enforcing nuclear proliferation safeguards in this part of the world is very difficult at best, impossible at the worse. It is a good summary on what is happening in the region, and the problems that are going to arise as these states continue with their nuclear weapon's programs.

How Advances In Technology Will Make Nuclear Proliferation Harder To Control

Iranian atomic energy chief Gholamreza Aghazadeh is seen at the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, 350 km (217 miles) south of Tehran, April 8, 2008. Photo from San Francisco Sentinel

Will Secret Technology Help Rogue Nations Get Nuclear Weapons? -- Christian Science Monitor

New technology uses lasers to enrich uranium for nuclear power. Critics say it's approval would hamper nuclear weapons nonproliferation goals.

Inside a nondescript warehouse outside Wilmington, N.C., a secret technology that uses powerful lasers to enrich uranium is advancing toward commercialization. It would be a breakthrough that would cut by half the cost of making reactor fuel for nuclear power plants.

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My Comment: Pandora's box is open, and because it is "open" one can only assume that advances in technology will (with time) make nuclear enrichment easier and cheaper to do. Countries like the U.S. may try their best to keep these technologies secret, but we all know that with time these technologies always become publicly known .... and yes .... countries that are actively involved in developing a nuclear program will .... with time .... adopt these technologies for their own nuclear programs.

U.S., Arabs Reach Deal To Pressure Israel To Scrap Its Nuclear Weapons To Save Nuclear Treaty Talks

U.S., Arabs Reach Deal At Nuclear Treaty Talks -- Reuters

The United States and Egypt struck a deal on a push to pressure Israel to ultimately scrap any atomic bombs it has in a bid to avert a collapse of talks on shoring up the global anti-nuclear arms pact, envoys said Friday.

But they said it was unclear whether Iran would attempt to single-handedly block an agreement on a final declaration that has now been agreed upon by the other 189 signatories of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, who have been meeting for a month to find ways to strengthen the troubled pact.

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More News On The Nuclear Treaty Talks

Nuclear treaty talks on brink of failure: diplomats -- Reuters
Nuclear Nonproliferation Conference Faces Possible Collapse on Final Day -- Global Security Newsiwre
UN nuclear conference gets last-minute draft statement -- AFP
Nuclear-Free Mideast Plan Takes Center Stage in Talks at White House -- Global Security Newswire
Tension, uncertainty on last day of U.N. nuclear conference -- Washington Post
Iran blames U.S. for "deadlock" at nuclear pact meet -- Reuters
Israel deflects pressure on nuclear weapons -- BBC

Did Israel Offer To Sell To South Africa Nuclear Weapons In 1975?

Revealed: How Israel Offered To Sell South Africa Nuclear Weapons -- The Guardian

Exclusive: Secret apartheid-era papers give first official evidence of Israeli nuclear weapons.

Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons.

The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.

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More News On Israel's Offer To Sell Nuclear Weapons To South Africa In The 1970s

The memos and minutes that confirm Israel's nuclear stockpile -- The Guardian
Israel and apartheid: a marriage of convenience and military might -- The Guardian
Israel's Peres denies offering South Africa nukes -- AP
Israel denies alleged nuclear link to S.Africa -- Global Times
Documents Said to Offer Proof of Israeli Nukes -- Global Security Newswire
Israel 'tried to sell nuclear weapons' -- ABC News (Australia)

Why Highly Enriched Uranium Is Dangerous

Bomb Chasers: How A Potential Nuke Was Rescued From The Chile Quake -- Time Magazine

Andrew Bieniawski was in bed when the earthquake struck. On Feb. 26, Bieniawski, the assistant deputy administrator for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), had arrived in Santiago, Chile, to join a group of scientists and nuclear engineers on a top-secret mission to remove a potential nuclear bomb from the country. Around 40 lb. (18 kg) of highly enriched uranium (HEU) — with enough latent energy to destroy a portion of a city — had already been inventoried, secured and made ready for transport to a highly secure facility in the U.S. Running ahead of schedule, Bieniawski had taken his team out for dinner with Chilean nuclear agency officials before heading to bed. Then the big one hit.

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My Comment: A fascinating story, worthy of a Hollywood plot. Kudos to Time Magazine for making this story public.

The CSI Officers For Nuclear Materials And Loose Nukes

Julie Gostic at Lawrence Livermore National Lab works with a flow-through chemical automation system. The US government is training a new wave of nuclear scientists to help it stay up to date on nuclear forensics. Jacqueline McBride/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

US Trains Nuclear Detectives To Trace 'Loose' Nukes -- Christian Science Monitor

As nuclear safety concerns rise, the US government is building a stable of nuclear detectives – offering summer internships to those interested in radiochemistry nuclear forensics.

He was stopped at a border checkpoint just after midnight, crossing from Romania into Bulgaria, when guards doing a routine inspection of his car turned up documents written in Russian – including one that described a shipment of uranium.

It was enough to make the guards suspicious. Popping the trunk, they found an air compressor inside, and upon closer inspection a tiny amount of highly enriched uranium, encased in a small glass vial, encased in wax, encased in a lead container.

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My Comment: To say that their work is important is an understatement.