Arms Control Today articles from May 2007

Arms Control Today archives from May 2007

Editor's note.(Editorial)
May 1, 2007... Amid rising concerns over global warming and energy security, interest in nuclear power has grown. Promoters of a "nuclear renaissance" argue that, by constructing more nuclear power plants, there will be less carbon in the atmosphere and less...

U.S.-Indian nuclear deal: round II.(FOCUS)
May 1, 2007... The nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) faces enough difficulties without the additional burden of preferential treatment for NPT holdout states. Nevertheless, the George W. Bush administration won congressional approval last December for an...

Notable quotable.(In BRIEF)(Quotation)
May 1, 2007... "I think a critical question here, with respect to [the Reliable Replacement Warhead program], is the issue of testing. Is it a specific objective of the program to be able to eliminate the need for testing in the future? Yes or no?"...

Two decades later: the ABM treaty in a changed world.(Fifteen Years Ago in ACT)
May 1, 2007... The real way to reduce the nuclear threat is not to seed space with hundreds of weapons, or to ring our nation with radars and rockets. Rather, it is to strengthen the nonproliferation regime and sharply reduce the nuclear arsenals left over...

By the numbers.(In BRIEF)
May 1, 2007... Nuclear Power 435 Number of nuclear power reactors worldwide 368 Gigawatts of electricity supplied by nuclear power 10,000 Metric tons of spent fuel discharged from power reactors each year 75 Metric tons of...

Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Uzbekistan April 2 ratified a treaty to create a Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. The treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, a former Soviet nuclear test site, by the region's states in September 2006 and is the seventh treaty...

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization had certified more than 200 monitoring stations for use in its International Monitoring System as of March 29. These are part of a network of facilities being built...

Chemical Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)
May 1, 2007... April 29 marked the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). During this time, 17,615 metric tons of chemical-weapon agent have been destroyed under the CWC. Almost 49,000 tons remain. On the same day,...

Nuclear Suppliers Group.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... The 45 countries of the voluntary Nuclear Suppliers Group met April 19-20 in Cape Town, South Africa, for their annual plenary. Although these decision-making meetings are confidential, the group, which operates by consensus, typically releases...

Bill Ostendorff has been sworn in as the principal deputy administrator at the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).(Comings and Goings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Bill Ostendorff has been sworn in as the principal deputy administrator at the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Previously, Ostendorff served as counsel and staff director for the Strategic Forces...

Former Ambassador to Norway Chen Naiqing has been appointed as China's special envoy on Korean Peninsula affairs.(Comings and Goings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2007... Former Ambassador to Norway Chen Naiqing has been appointed as China's special envoy on Korean Peninsula affairs. The post of the Korean envoy has been vacant since the departure of Li Bin, who was ambassador to the Republic of Korea before...

On the Calendar.(What's Ahead)(Calendar)
May 1, 2007... May 23 Deadline for Iran to Comply with UN Security Resolution 1747. June 6-8 33rd Group of Eight Summit Meeting, Heiligendamm, Germany. June 6-15 Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space: 50th session, ...

Risks and realities: the "new nuclear energy revival".
May 1, 2007... The headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sits in the suburbs of Vienna, in the northeast corner of a country that has outlawed nuclear power plants since 1978. The irony of this situation masks deeper divisions in the...

Faux renaissance: global warming, radioactive waste disposal, and the nuclear future.
May 1, 2007... Over the past 20 years, there has been little or no net growth in installed nuclear capacity in much of the world with the exception of Asia, where there has been some limited new nuclear construction. Many energy analysts now expect, however,...

Equal opportunity: historical challenges and future prospects of the nuclear fuel cycle.
May 1, 2007... Since the beginning of the nuclear age, the international community has attempted to provide an institutional framework for peaceful nuclear activities, most notably power generation, in order to minimize the risk that acquired nuclear...

Iran advances nuclear program, defies UN.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
May 1, 2007... Iran has continued to make further progress on its nuclear programs in defiance of UN Security Council demands. Evidence of this progress has emerged even as a May 23 deadline looms for Tehran to comply with a March Security Council resolution....

UN members slow on Iranian, NK sanctions.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
May 1, 2007... Most countries have yet to inform the United Nations whether they have relevant legislation in place to implement newly adopted Security Council-mandated sanctions on Iran and North Korea, according to recent reports from two UN panels charged...

Sudan accused of violating UN arms embargo.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
May 1, 2007... A UN report has accused the Sudanese government of flying weapons into conflict-ridden Darfur in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The briefing, compiled by a panel of experts charged with assisting the Security Council's Sudan...

North Korea misses disarmament deadline.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2007... North Korea has failed to meet an April 14 deadline for implementing its portion of a February agreement to eliminate its nuclear weapons program. Progress continues to be delayed by an unresolved dispute involving North Korean funds in the...

Indian demands slow U.S.-Indian nuclear deal.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2007... As the Bush administration's drive to revise U.S. and international nuclear trade rules for India has sputtered, U.S. officials have been expressing public exasperation with New Delhi's negotiating demands and perceived foot-dragging. At...

Tests, arrests draw attention to Indian missiles.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2007... Indian missile engineers are wasting little time celebrating their first successful intermediate-range ballistic missile test. With their confidence boosted, missile program managers have offered to develop an ICBM and announced upcoming...

Progress on UN WMD measure mixed.(THE WORLD)
May 1, 2007... Three years after the UN Security Council required states to enact measures to prevent nonstate actors from acquiring or using unconventional arms, progress toward that goal is disparate and muddled. The limitations are perhaps best summed up...

U.S.-Russian missile center faces another hurdle.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
May 1, 2007... Along-stalled U.S.-Russian project to share information on missile launches worldwide might never advance if the United States bases strategic anti-missile systems in Europe. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two Russian officials, who asked not...

U.S., Russia exploring post-START options.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
May 1, 2007... Moscow and Washington recently initiated talks on what measures might follow the upcoming expiration of START, their landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty. Russia favors negotiating another treaty cutting strategic nuclear forces, but the...

Progress or problems at CW destruction site?(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
May 1, 2007... U.S. officials say they are close to signing an agreement with the Russian government to complete the building of a major chemical weapons destruction facility that has been plagued by construction delays. Testifying before the Senate Armed...

Nuclear material security agreement reached.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
May 1, 2007... The United States and Russia have reached agreement on a plan for Russia to sustain and maintain U.S.-installed security upgrades at Russian nuclear material sites, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said April 11. But a recent...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2007... On page 30 of Arms Control Today's January/February 2007 issue, the size of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile that still needs to be destroyed was incorrectly cited as 28,000 metric tons. The correct figure should have been 18,000 metric tons...

U.S. poised to cut ballistic missiles.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
May 1, 2007... As early as the end of May, the Air Force might start trimming the U.S. long-range nuclear ballistic missile force by 10 percent despite the objections of a few lawmakers. The service also is moving forward with plans to cut its nuclear-armed...

Book review: nuclear minimalism.(Book review)
May 1, 2007... The Minimum Means of Reprisal: China's Search for Security in the Nuclear Age By Jeffrey G. Lewis MIT Press, March 2007, 200 pp. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] China has always been something of a footnote for the U.S. expert community...

The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor By William Langewiesche, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, May 2007, 179 pp. Pulling together articles that first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, William Langewiesche profiles three...

Space as a Strategic Asset.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... Space as a Strategic Asset By Joan Johnson-Freese, Columbia University Press, March 2007, 304 pp. Joan Johnson-Freese calls for U.S. space policy to lead the world to greater levels of cooperation and away from the trappings of an arms...

The Small Arms Trade: A Beginner's Guide.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
May 1, 2007... The Small Arms Trade: A Beginner's Guide By Rachel Stohl, Matt Schroeder, and Dan Smith, Oneworld Publications, February 2007, 192 pp. The Small Arms Trade: A Beginner's Guide is a primer designed to present the problem of small arms...

Broader space arms control is needed.(Letter TO THE EDITOR)
May 1, 2007... As Geoffrey Forden ("After China's Test: Time for a Limited Ban on Anti-Satellite Weapons," Arms Control Today, March 2007) indicates, space arms control has been stalled for many years, primarily by U.S. refusal to engage in negotiations or...