Arms Control Today articles from May 2004

Arms Control Today archives from May 2004

Curb nuclear weapons excess.(Focus)
May 1, 2004... More than a decade has passed since the end of the Cold War and President George H. W. Bush's 1992 decision to end the production of new nuclear weapons. Today, U.S. military might is unrivaled. By far, its greatest security challenge is...

Coddling the nuclear weapons complex.
May 1, 2004... At the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), it is as if the Cold War never ended. Despite the reduced likelihood of a major nuclear conflict, massive cuts in the deployed U.S. arsenal, and a long-standing moratorium on U.S. nuclear...

Stockpile stewardship: soaring costs, questionable projects.
May 1, 2004... Critics have raised questions about the utility and cost of several projects of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Stockpile Stewardship Program. Some key projects are described below. TERASCALE SIMULATION FACILITY The...

Does the United States need a new plutonium-pit facility?
May 1, 2004... Each nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal contains a "pit," a hollow shell of plutonium clad in a corrosion-resistant metal, which is surrounded by chemical explosives. When the weapon is detonated, the explosives compress the pit into a...

Don't just trust, verify--dismantling North Korea's nuclear program.
May 1, 2004... February's second round of six-party talks in Beijing aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program produced considerable progress on establishing a process and framework for future talks. However, no gains were made in narrowing the...

Verification priorities for disarming North Korea.
May 1, 2004... Verification will mean more than freezing and eventually dismantling North Korea's active nuclear weapons program. It will also mean finally accounting for its past nuclear activities. Further, since October 2002, more and more elements have...

Plan B: using sanctions to end Iran's nuclear program.
May 1, 2004... On October 21, 2003, Iran vowed to sign and abide by the Additional Protocol to the Safeguards Agreement, to suspend all uranium-enrichment and reprocessing activities voluntarily, and to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy...

Iran and IAEA agree on action plan; U.S., Europeans not satisfied.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... IRAN AND THE International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached agreement in early April on an action plan to complete the agency's investigation of Iran's nuclear program. As a critical IAEA meeting approaches, however, Tehran's simultaneous...

U.S. punishes 13 companies for Iran deals.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... A COMMON BUSH administration refrain is that foreign companies can either do business with the United States or "rogue regimes," but not both. The United States underscored that message April 1 by imposing sanctions on 13 foreign companies for...

U.S. lifts more sanctions on Libya.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE WHITE HOUSE announced April 23 that it is easing additional sanctions on Libya as a reward for Tripoli's progress toward dismantling its chemical and nuclear weapons programs and eliminating its long-range missiles. Libya had pledged to end...

Libya to keep limited missile force.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE UNITED STATES and United Kingdom have agreed "in principle" to allow Libya to keep at least some of its medium-range Scud B missiles, a Department of State official told Arms Control Today April 21. However, Libya must modify the missiles...

U.S., North Korea jockey for China's support as working group nuclear talks approach.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... AS NORTH KOREA and the United States prepare for a new round of multilateral talks concerning Pyongyang's nuclear program, both sides are lobbying for the support of China in an effort to gain diplomatic leverage in future talks. In April,...

U.S. shifts focus in Iraq WMD hunt.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... CHARLES DUELFER, THE head advisor to the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), provided some new details about the still-fruitless search efforts for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) during a recent Senate hearing but presented little new evidence...

IAEA concerned about Iraqi nuclear facilities security.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC Energy Agency (IAEA) has told the UN Security Council that some declared Iraqi nuclear facilities may not be sufficiently secured and that Iraqi nuclear material may have leaked out of the country. IAEA...

Searching for ways to roll back nuclear proliferation: an interview with State Department policy planning director Mitchell Reiss.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... NEARLY A DECADE ago, Mitchell Reiss wrote an acclaimed book, Bridled Ambition, which sought to explain why some countries had chosen to abandon their nuclear weapons programs. "Just as all cancers are not terminal, nuclear status is not...

NATO expands, Russia grumbles.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER Sergei Ivanov is calling upon the United States and NATO not to let relations with Russia slip into a "cold peace" following the March 29 addition of seven new members into the Western military alliance. In an April 6...

U.S., Russia still SORTing out nuclear reductions.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... NEARLY TWO YEARS after concluding a treaty to reduce the size of their deployed strategic nuclear forces by roughly two-thirds, neither the United States nor Russia have finalized plans on how to accomplish that task. U.S. and Russian...

New life for the MX missile?(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... A vestige of the Cold War, the mammoth, 10-warhead MX missile is on schedule to become history next fall just like the superpower conflict that spawned its creation. Yet, Pentagon planners are already contemplating the missile's possible...

Security Council unanimously adopts resolution on denying terrorists WMD.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE UN SECURITY Council April 28 unanimously adopted a resolution calling on states to take steps to deny and punish terrorists seeking weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. Despite its seemingly unobjectionable purpose,...

GAO: deployment looms, but missile defense remains unproven.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... SOME PENTAGON PROJECTS to build missile defense systems are showing progress, but it remains uncertain whether key elements set for deployment this September will work as intended, according to an April 2004 report by the General Accounting...

U.S. accuses Burma of seeking weapons technology.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... U.S. OFFICIALS ARE warning that another new concern may be emerging in the clandestine world of proliferation: Burma. During a March 25 House International Relations Committee hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Daley testified...

GAO: U.S. may miss chemical destruction deadline.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING Office is warning that the United States may once again fail to meet a key milestone for destroying chemical agents. More troubling, GAO noted, are warnings that the United States may miss the Chemical Weapons Convention...

Law of the Sea Convention marooned in senate.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... A HANDFUL OF Republican senators are warning that U.S. accession to the UN Law of the Sea Convention might undermine a U.S.-led initiative to intercept dangerous weapons as well as U.S. sovereignty. Their opposition has helped hold up Senate...

India, Pakistan set confidence-building talks.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... INDIAN AND PAKISTANI officials are scheduled to meet later this month in the Indian capital New Delhi for formal discussions on nuclear confidence-building measures. The talks come in the wake of groundbreaking peace talks between the two...

After long delay, Energy Department releases weapons advisory committee report.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... SUCCUMBING TO PRESSURE from nongovernmental groups and members of Congress, the Department of Energy has finally turned over a closely held report by an internal advisory committee that critiques the department's weapons and nonproliferation...

Energy Dept. reshuffles nonproliferation program.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE DEPARTMENT OF Energy announced April 14 that it is shifting control of its program aimed at retrieving tons of previously exported, U.S.-origin nuclear fuel that could be used to build nuclear weapons. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said...

Congress appears in no rush to pass additional protocol implementing legislation.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE IMPLEMENTING LEGISLATION for an additional protocol to the U.S. safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remains tied up in a Senate committee, but Republicans and Democrats hope to see action taken on the...

Brazil denies IAEA full access to enrichment sites.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT continues to refuse to allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to eyeball equipment at its uranium enrichment plant, citing the need to protect its industrial secrets. IAEA inspectors who have...

U.S. defends new nuclear weapons research.(News and Negotiations)
May 1, 2004... U.S. RESEARCH INTO new nuclear weapons designs will not spur other states to do the same nor impede U.S. nonproliferation efforts, the Bush administration asserted in a March 31 report to Congress. Other world officials suggest otherwise. ...

Israeli subcommittee faults intelligence on Iraq.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... An investigation into Israel's failure to provide accurate intelligence on Iraq's weapons capabilities found that Israeli intelligence agencies suffered from a closed "information loop," as well as other failures. The conclusions are the...

IAEA advancing code on research reactors.(News Briefs)
May 1, 2004... At its General Conference this September, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will consider adoption of an international legal agreement addressing research reactor security, dubbed the Code of Conduct on the Safety of Research...

CWC, CTBT membership ranks grow.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Several states deposited ratification instruments to key arms control treaties in April. After depositing its instrument of ratification with the United Nations March 31, Rwanda joined the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) April 30. Rwanda is...

Vanunu released from prision.(News Briefs)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Mordechai Vanunu was released from prison on April 21, 18 years after his arrest for revealing secrets about Israel's nuclear weapons program. Vanunu offered details and pictures of Israel's Diamona nuclear reactor to The Sunday Times in 1986,...

Arms control in print.
May 1, 2004... OF SPECIAL INTEREST U.S. Departments of State, Defense, and Energy. "An Assessment of the Impact of the Prohibition on Low Yield Warhead Development on the Ability of the United States to Achieve Its Nonproliferation Objectives." March...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... In the April 2004 issue, the article "Congress Critical of Bush Nuclear Weapons Budget" incorrectly stated that Linton Brooks, head of the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, testified March 24 that the United...

Clarification.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... In the March 2004 issue, the article "U.S. Will Not Join Landmine Treaty; Position on Fissile Material Cutoff Pact Uncertain" paraphrased Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker as saying that an earlier rationale for...