Arms Control Today articles from September 2006

Arms Control Today archives from September 2006

Editor's note.
September 1, 2006... The Bush administration has succeeded since taking office in forcing a new debate on the role of verification in arms control. Propelled by skeptics such as John Bolton, then undersecretary of state for arms control and international security,...

Revive the Test Ban Treaty.
September 1, 2006... Ten years ago this month, UN member states overwhelmingly endorsed and later opened for signature the longest-sought, hardest-fought nuclear arms control treaty: the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Today, despite widespread support for...

Notable quotable.
September 1, 2006... "This is a badly conceived and most especially a badly timed action which will weaken the nonproliferation regime over the long-haul and, in the end, wind up encouraging the production of more nuclear weapons by Pakistan, China, and India."...

CBW arms control: a regime under attack?(Twenty Years Ago in ACT)
September 1, 2006... The Biological Weapons Convention clearly permits research on biological agents aimed at developing defenses--such as vaccines or antidotes--against those vaccines. But even work on defenses has offensive implications.... In the final analysis,...

By the numbers.(nuclear weapons)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Securing Nuclear Materials in the Former Soviet Union 15 years Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union $8.2 billion* Amount the United States has spent on controlling former Soviet nuclear warheads, material, and expertise...

IAEA additional protocol.(International Atomic Energy Agency)
September 1, 2006... The Senate Foreign Relations Committee July 20 approved implementing legislation for the United States' additional protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards agreement. The implementing language was approved as part of...

International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Following India's lead, Pakistani officials said July 27 that Islamabad will sign a UN convention against nuclear terrorism. Although no date has yet been set, Pakistan plans to add its name to the International Convention for the Suppression...

Securing the bomb 2006.(Reports of Note)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... By Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier, Project on Managing the Atom, Harvard University and Nuclear Threat Initiative, July 2006 Efforts to improve nuclear security in the former Soviet Union have accelerated, but an unacceptably high threat...

The North Korean plutonium stock mid-2006.(Reports of Note)(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... By David Albright and Paul Brannan, Institute for Science and International Security, June 26, 2006 This brief report seeks to determine how much plutonium and how many potential bombs North Korea may possess. By examining satellite...

On the calendar.(What's Ahead)
September 1, 2006... Sept. 11 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting, Vienna. Sept. 12 Opening of 61st session of UN General Assembly, New York. Sept. 18-22 IAEA General Conference, Vienna. Sept. 18-22...

ReSTART: the need for a new U.S.-Russian strategic arms agreement.(Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty)
September 1, 2006... On June 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to begin talks with the United States on replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), set to expire in 2009. (1) Calling for a "renewed dialogue on the main disarmament issues,"...

Verification and the BWC: last gasp or signs of life?(1972 Biological Weapons Convention )
September 1, 2006... At first blush, the outlook for cooperative, multilateral verification of compliance with the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) looks grim. In 2001-2002, ten years of work devoted to preparing for and then negotiating a draft protocol to...

Crucial guidance: a code of conduct for biodefense scientists.(1972 Biological Weapons Convention )
September 1, 2006... When representatives of up to 155 states-parties meet in Geneva from November 20 to December 8 to consider ways to strengthen the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), they are likely to express support for the promotion and creation of...

Security Council condemns NK missile tests.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)(North Korea)
September 1, 2006... Ending weeks of speculation, North Korea launched seven missiles into the Sea of Japan July 4-5. The launches included a failed test of Pyongyang's Taepo Dong-2, which some U.S. intelligence reports have estimated as capable of reaching the...

North Korea: are the six-party nuclear talks dead?
September 1, 2006... Last September, the six-party talks regarding North Korea's nuclear program produced a joint statement that was hailed as a significant diplomatic breakthrough. But a year later, the talks are on the verge of collapse, with negotiators from...

Obstacles remain for U.S.-Indian deal.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
September 1, 2006... The House in July gave its preliminary stamp of approval to the United States forging a broader civil nuclear trade relationship with India, but the arrangement remains far from finished. India is upset about measures that U.S. lawmakers have...

Iran rejects Security Council demand.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
September 1, 2006... After more than two months, Iran responded Aug. 22 to a package of incentives and disincentives offered by China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to convince Tehran to end its gas centrifuge-based...

UK offers Libya security assurances.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
September 1, 2006... The United Kingdom has agreed to offer Libya security assurances and strengthen their mutual security relationship in an effort to encourage other countries to follow Libya's lead in abandoning its chemical and nuclear weapons programs. On...

Bush, Putin to seek nuclear cooperation pact.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin)
September 1, 2006... President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed July 15 to open negotiations on an agreement that would permit full nuclear cooperation between their countries. They vowed, as well, to encourage other states to renounce...

Anti-nuclear terrorism initiative launched.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
September 1, 2006... The United States and Russia launched an initiative July 15 that they hope will energize countries worldwide to prevent and react to nuclear terrorist attacks. Whether they succeed remains uncertain, as the initiative is still in its formative...

Russia seeks new nuclear accord.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
September 1, 2006... With a landmark U.S.-Russian strategic arms treaty nearing expiration, Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to revive a listless strategic arms dialogue with Washington. The Bush administration, however, has indicated repeatedly it is not...

Venezuela, Russia sign weapons deal.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
September 1, 2006... Defying the United States, Russia agreed in July to sell $1 billion in combat aircraft to Venezuela. The deal marks the latest in a series of Russian arms sales to a state that has increasingly clashed with Washington over different ideological...

Lawmakers mixed on nuclear funding.(weapon disposal spending)
September 1, 2006... As Congress nears the end of its session this fall, lawmakers still must hash out the next annual budget for the U.S. nuclear complex. One area of general agreement is boosting funding for a new category of nuclear warhead, but lawmakers are...

Global Strike plan bombs in Congress.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missiles)
September 1, 2006... Congress made deep cuts in a Pentagon plan to switch the payloads of some nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to conventional munitions as lawmakers moved toward finishing fiscal year 2007 defense spending bills. By...

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia cleared for U.S. arms buys.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
September 1, 2006... Key lawmakers this summer slammed the Bush administration for its handling of up to $5 billion in proposed combat aircraft sales to Pakistan, but Congress still let the weapons deals proceed. Legislators also recently assented to $9.7 billion...

Bush, Congress wield proliferation sanctions.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(George W. Bush)
September 1, 2006... The Bush administration in July sanctioned nine companies for suspected involvement with Iran's missile and unconventional weapons programs, and President George W. Bush Aug. 5 signed a short-term extension of an expiring 1996 sanctions law...

Downblending programs' future in doubt.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(weapons grade nuclear materials convertion to power reactor fuels)
September 1, 2006... The Department of Energy and two private corporations have successfully completed a program to eliminate 50 metric tons of U.S. material potentially suitable for nuclear weapons, converting it into fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors....

Rocca to push controversial draft treaty.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Christina Rocca)
September 1, 2006... The Senate Aug. 3 confirmed Christina Rocca as the new U.S. permanent representative to the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva. Rocca, a former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, will begin the position as the...

HEU removed from Poland, Libya.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(highly enriched uranium)
September 1, 2006... A multinational effort removed and returned more than 40 kilograms of fresh Soviet-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Poland to Russia, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Aug. 10. Separately, another operation...

UN small arms conference deadlocks.
September 1, 2006... A two-week UN conference in New York aimed at cracking down on the worldwide illicit trade of small arms ended July 7 without a final agreement on measures to reduce the spread of the weapons. Delegates also failed to create a road map for...

Interdiction initiative results obscure.(unconventional weapons shipments)
September 1, 2006... Like the shadowy trade it is intended to stop, the workings and record of a U.S.-led initiative to interdict shipments of unconventional weapons in transit are largely inscrutable. That is the way U.S. officials involved in the voluntary...

Looking back: the 1986 Reykjavik summit.(Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev)
September 1, 2006... The story of the 1986 Reykjavik summit meeting is a tale of two visionary leaders and an "impossible dream." It was the most remarkable summit ever held between U.S. and Soviet leaders. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary...

Conventional Trident provides a vital option.(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... My former colleague, Steve Andreasen ("Off Target? The Bush Administration's Plan to Arm Long-Range Ballistic Missiles With Conventional Warheads," Arms Control Today, July/August 2006), provides a useful but unnecessarily negative perspective...