Arms Control Today articles from November 2006

Arms Control Today archives from November 2006

Editor's note.
November 1, 2006... North Korea's October 9 nuclear test marked a setback for stability in Northeast Asia and for the global nonproliferation regime. This month's issue provides special, comprehensive coverage of this event and its aftermath. Robert L....

Number nine.(North Korea)
November 1, 2006... North Korea's October 9 nuclear test explosion could cause irreparable damage to an already beleaguered global nonproliferation system. Unless the world's ninth active nuclear weapons program is verifiably halted and reversed through more...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)
November 1, 2006... "I think that all sides have to exercise restraint, no more provocation. And also the important thing is that in the face of such crisis, I think it is all the more important for the international community to reinvigorate diplomatic efforts to...

Keeping an eye on the nuclear world.(Fifteen Years Ago in ACT)(North Korea)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... North Korea negotiated the standard test of an [nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty]-type safeguards agreement with the [International Atomic Energy Agency]. Following the U.S decision to withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from South Korea and many...

By the numbers.(InBRIEF)
November 1, 2006... The Nuclear Testing Tally 1945-2006 1 North Korea 2 Pakistan* 3 India* 45 China 45 United Kingdom** 210 France** 715 Soviet Union/Russia** 1,030 United States *In...

Developing the technical basis to secure and irreversibly reduce stocks of nuclear weapons and fissile materials.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Developing the Technical Basis to Secure and Irreversibly Reduce Stocks of Nuclear Weapons and Fissile Materials International Panel on Fissile Materials, September 2006 In its first annual report, the International Panel on Fissile...

Arms without borders: why a globalised trade needs global controls.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Arms Without Borders: Why a Globalised Trade Needs Global Controls Oxfam International, International Action Network on Small Arms, and Amnesty International, October 2006 Leading humanitarian groups have collaborated in this brief...

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons' Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War will enter into force Nov. 12. It will add to existing prohibitions that seek to ban or restrict the use of certain types of weapons that cause unnecessary...

Highly enriched uranium agreements.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... In late September, Russia and Serbia signed an agreement that would allow the shipment to Russia of 2.5 metric tons of irradiated highly enriched uranium (HEU) and low-enriched uranium (LEU) from a dormant Serbian nuclear facility at Vinca. The...

On the calendar.(What's Ahead)
November 1, 2006... Nov. 7-17 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons: Third Review Conference, Geneva. Nov. 13-17 Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization: 27th session,...

Nuclear shockwaves: ramifications of the North Korean nuclear test.
November 1, 2006... North Korea's nuclear test almost certainly failed to achieve its design yield. Nevertheless, it is likely to spread major shockwaves, domestically and internationally. Domestically, the finger pointing has begun, inevitably if regrettably, as...

Nuclear shockwaves: making the best of bad options.
November 1, 2006... North Korea's October 9 nuclear test has been called a failure of U.S., South Korean, and Chinese policy, and those criticisms are undoubtedly accurate to some degree. Lost in the finger pointing, however, is the strong evidence that Kim Jong...

A technical analysis: deconstructing North Korea's October 9 nuclear test.
November 1, 2006... On October 9, North Korea announced that it had carried out an underground nuclear test. In subsequent days, the apparent low yield of the device and initial lack of reports of detection of radioactivity from the test raised questions about...

The clock's ticking: stopping Iran before it's too late.
November 1, 2006... Time is running out on Iran. Decisions are being made in Washington and Tehran that could put the two countries on a collision course in the new year. The dominant leadership faction in Iran seems determined to continue a steady march to...

North Korean test provokes widespread condemnation.
November 1, 2006... North Korea conducted an explosive test of a nuclear device Oct. 9, provoking widespread international condemnation. Five days later, the UN Security Council approved a resolution imposing additional sanctions on North Korea. Although the...

Statement from Pyongyang: rationale for a nuclear test.
November 1, 2006... Two days after its Oct. 9 nuclear test, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), issued a statement. The Foreign Ministry said it was issuing the statement in...

Chronology: the North Korean nuclear crisis 2002-2006.(Chronology)
November 1, 2006... 2002 October 3-5, 2002: Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly visits North Korea. The highest-ranking Bush administration official to visit Pyongyang, Kelly reiterates U.S. concerns about North Korea's...

US Security Council resolution 1718 on North Korea.
November 1, 2006... The United Nations Security Council Oct. 14 unanimously adopted Resolution 1718 "expressing the gravest concern" that North Korea claimed to have tested a nuclear weapons. The resolution deplores Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and its...

North Korea interdiction option limited.
November 1, 2006... Reacting to North Korea's first nuclear test, the UN Security Council Oct. 14 insisted that all countries prevent Pyongyang from trafficking in unconventional arms, major conventional weapons, and luxury goods. But the council did not give...

U.S., Pakistan seal combat aircraft deal.
November 1, 2006... Pakistan's air force will receive a major makeover courtesy of the United States. Under two recently finalized agreements and a pending deal, Washington will upgrade Islamabad's fleet of existing U.S. combat aircraft and deliver up to 62 new...

Iran ignores deadline; Security Council split.
November 1, 2006... Following a late and inconclusive round of diplomacy between officials from the European Union and their Iranian counterparts, new efforts to try to restrain Iran's nuclear program are underway in the UN Security Council. The Security...

Russia, Iran sign deal to fuel Bushehr reactor.
November 1, 2006... Iran and Russia have concluded a revised schedule for Russia to fuel a light-water nuclear power reactor that a Russian contractor is constructing near the Iranian city of Bushehr. According to Sergey Shmatko, head of the Russian contractor...

Bioweapons treaty progress predicted.(Interview)
November 1, 2006... Representatives from 155 states meeting in Geneva Nov. 20-Dec. 8 to review and advance the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) are expressing cautious optimism that the once-every-five-years gathering will prove more successful than its...

Landmine clearance deadlines looming.
November 1, 2006... One hundred adherents to a treaty banning anti-personnel landmines (APLs) recently met in Geneva and urged that the accord's first mine clearance deadlines in 2009 be met. But attendees also adopted a process for countries to request more time...

The growing nuclear fuel-cycle debate.
November 1, 2006... A series of nuclear-related crises and a growing interest by several countries in nuclear energy production has revived interest in ways to prevent the spread of nuclear technologies that can be easily misused for the production of nuclear...

Missile Control Regime focuses on Iran, NK.(THE WORLD)
November 1, 2006... A group of countries devoted to stemming the spread of missiles vowed recently to intensify efforts to deny Iran and North Korea exports that could aid their missile programs. China's alleged failure to curtail such exports to Iran is a key...

Nuclear suppliers updated on U.S.-Indian deal.
November 1, 2006... Indian officials recently met for the first time with representatives of nuclear supplier states to sell them on a controversial U.S.-Indian deal to expand global civilian nuclear commerce with India. But New Delhi failed to address all the...

Signed defense bills rebuff Pentagon plans.
November 1, 2006... President George W. Bush recently signed into law two pieces of defense legislation that dramatically curb his administration's plans to reconfigure the nation's nuclear forces. The fiscal year 2007 defense authorization law, which sets...

U.S. nixes arms control in new space policy.
November 1, 2006... The Bush administration recently released a new space policy that eschews future binding measures to regulate space activities in favor of keeping open all U.S. options, including space-based anti-missile systems, to promote and protect U.S....

Congress approves Iran, NK measures.(North Korea)
November 1, 2006... Lawmakers in late September approved measures granting the executive branch new authority to punish North Korea and Iran for their missile and nuclear programs. But Congress also endorsed measures that would require intelligence agencies to...

Russia looks to tighten U.S. nuclear ties.
November 1, 2006... Russian officials are eager to work with the United States both to increase their share of the U.S. civil nuclear market and promote the worldwide growth of nuclear power. But to do so, they will first need to address nonproliferation and...

The destructive legacy of plutonium reprocessing.
November 1, 2006... On February 27, 1986, the Department of Energy released a six-foot-high stack of documents, 19,000 pages in all, concerning the Hanford plutonium plant in south-central Washington state. Most of the documents had been classified as secret or...