Arms Control Today articles from April 2005

Arms Control Today archives from April 2005

Editor's note.(nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty )(Editorial)
April 1, 2005... Sadly, next month's nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference may turn out to be a dialogue of the deaf. All states-parties agree on the need to strengthen the treaty, but their priorities and proposed changes differ...

Arming dictators, rewarding proliferators.(FOCUS)
April 1, 2005... Last year, Pakistani leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned his former nuclear weapons program chief Abdul Qadeer Khan for masterminding a global black market trade that delivered advanced nuclear weapons technology to Libya, Iran, and North...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)
April 1, 2005... "I really must apologize for my lack of precision if we in the administration have suggested that it was possible to have a bomb that penetrated far enough to trap all fallout... This is a nuclear weapon that is going to be hugely...

Coping with the new 'clear and present danger' from Russia.(Ten Years Ago in ACT)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The danger that weapons moving through the [Russian] system could fall into the wrong hands is going to be around for a long time unless the United States does more to reduce that danger. James Blaker, former adviser to the Joint Chiefs of...

By the numbers.
April 1, 2005... Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Inspections Record* CWC Entry into Force: April 29, 1997 69 States-parties inspected out of current 167 states-parties 333 Inspections of chemical weapons (CW) production facilities ...

U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe.(Reports of Note)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe By Hans M. Kristensen. Natural Resources Defense Council, February 2005. Well over a decade after the end of the Cold War, the United States still maintains more than 400 tactical nuclear weapons at eight...

Nonproliferation Export Controls in India: Update 2005.(Reports of Note)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Nonproliferation Export Controls in India: Update 2005 By Seema Gahlaut and Anupam Srivastava. Center for International Trade and Security, University of Georgia, March 2005. Seema Gahlaut and Anupam Srivastava examine India's efforts...

IAEA additional protocol.(Treaty Update)(International Atomic Energy Agency)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Nicaragua on Feb. 18 ratified its version of the 1997 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Model Additional Protocol, which expands the IAEA's ability to monitor a state's nuclear activities and facilities. The IAEA Board of Governors also...

Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 22 signed a bill ratifying the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage after both houses of the Russian parliament voted to ratify it in early March. The 1963 convention, which entered...

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization.(Treaty Update)(signed a Facility Agreement )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2005... The Russian government and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization's (CTBTO) Preparatory Commission signed a Facility Agreement March 22 allowing the CTBTO to work on facilities located on Russian territory associated with the...

What's ahead: on the calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2005... April 20-21 Informal Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers. Vilnius, Lithuania. April 25-26 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Korea Conference on new security threats and a new security ...

The 2005 NPT Review Conference: can it meet the nuclear challenge?(NPT 2005)(nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty )
April 1, 2005... The nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) was designed to link the concerns of those who acquired nuclear weapons but did not desire further proliferation with those who had not acquired nuclear weapons but wanted the potential to make use of...

Negative security assurances: revisiting the nuclear-weapon-free zone option.(NPT 2005)
April 1, 2005... A perennial subject of contention at review conferences of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), held every five years, has been the desire of the non-nuclear-weapon states-parties to the treaty to obtain "legally binding negative security...

After Iran: back to basics on "peaceful" nuclear energy.(NPT 2005)
April 1, 2005... If states-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) want to prevent countries such as Iran from using the treaty as a legal cover to acquire all they need to come within days of having nuclear weapons, they will have to return to...

Bolton nomination splits capitol hill.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(John R. Bolton )
April 1, 2005... President George W. Bush's nomination of John R. Bolton as U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations has divided members of Congress along party lines. But it is unclear if Democrats will have any more luck in derailing Bolton's...

The Bush administration and verification.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
April 1, 2005... Since taking office, the Bush administration has opposed or bypassed opportunities to codify measures to check compliance with three arms control treaties. Yet, the U.S. government's lead office for assessing worldwide adherence to arms control...

Pentagon split on missile defense.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
April 1, 2005... Two top Pentagon officials gave lawmakers disparate appraisals of the administration's deployed long-range ballistic missile defense system during congressional testimony March 15. The general overseeing the system's development contended it...

Canada spurns Bush on missile defense.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
April 1, 2005... Defying intense U.S. lobbying and President George W. Bush's personal intervention, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin recently announced that Ottawa would not join U.S. efforts to build long-range ballistic missile defenses. Martin's decision...

U.S. offer fails to end EU-Iran impasse.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
April 1, 2005... Despite a U.S. offer in March designed to strengthen their hand, three European nations have been unable to produce any major breakthroughs in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Still, both sides have agreed to continue talks, and...

IAEA criticizes Iran cooperation.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)(International Atomic Energy Agency)
April 1, 2005... International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Deputy Director-General Pierre Goldschmidt told the agency's Board of Governors March 1 that Iran has failed to cooperate fully with the IAEA investigation of Tehran's nuclear programs. Specifically, he...

Iran, Russia reach nuclear agreement.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
April 1, 2005... The conclusion of an agreement in which Russia will supply Iran with nuclear fuel for a 1,000-megawatt light-water nuclear power reactor marks the latest step in a decade-long controversy. Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy Director...

New reports cite looting at Iraqi sites; UNMOVIC future discussed.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
April 1, 2005... Equipment and materials related to Iraq's former prohibited weapons programs are missing from the country, according to new reports. The revelations come as UN Security Council members have been conducting informal discussions regarding the...

Congress's Iraq probes winding down.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
April 1, 2005... A U.S. Senate investigation of intelligence issues related to pre-war estimates of Iraq's prohibited weapons programs appears to be winding down. A similar House investigation appears to have been concluded about a year ago. Last summer,...

North Korea disavows missile moratorium; Talks remain stalled.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
April 1, 2005... On March 2, North Korea exacerbated the already tense nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, stating in a lengthy memorandum that Pyongyang is no longer bound by its more than five-year-old moratorium on testing longer-range missiles. Yet,...

CTBTO releases test ban monitoring data for tsunami warning.(THE WORLD)(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization)
April 1, 2005... Last December's deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean might inspire an additional mission for the international organization that is tasked with eventually verifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). On March 4, the Preparatory...

Slow start for UN WMD committee.(THE WORLD)
April 1, 2005... Nearing the halfway point of its lifespan, a UN committee is just starting its primary task of pinpointing weak spots in national laws and export controls that terrorists might exploit to acquire missiles and chemical, biological, and nuclear...

UK spells out arms pact.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
April 1, 2005... British Foreign Minister Jack Straw set out guidelines March 15 for a global treaty on conventional arms sales that London plans to promote this year. The initiative comes at a time when the European Union is wrestling with whether to waive...

U.S., Russia seek help on plutonium.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
April 1, 2005... The Department of Energy is looking for international donations to help pay the substantial costs of shutting down Russia's three remaining nuclear reactors that produce weapons-grade plutonium. This program, originally assigned to the...

Threat Reduction budget detailed.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
April 1, 2005... The Department of Defense has outlined how it would like to spend the $415.5 million President George W. Bush requested from Congress earlier this year to help dismantle excess weapons and related infrastructure, particularly in Russia and the...

In memoriam: Hans Bethe (1906-2005).(Obituary)
April 1, 2005... Hans Bethe, who died on March 6 at the age of 98, was exemplary as a scientist; a citizen-advocate seeking to stem the arms race; and an individual of warmth, generosity, tenacity, and modest habits. Bethe made major contributions to...

Looking back: the 1995 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference.
April 1, 2005... This May, the parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) will gather for the treaty's 2005 Review Conference, where they will assess the treaty's effectiveness and explore ways to remedy its shortcomings. Such conferences are not...