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November 10, 2011 |
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Atomic Dreams
Mark Hibbs | Foreign Policy
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The International Atomic Energy Agency's newest report on Iran's nuclear program, a document that has been quietly under preparation for several months, brings forth evidence that the Islamic Republic has covered a lot of technical ground to develop a nuclear weapon over the past two decades.
But it stops short of the most incendiary charge: that Iran's political leadership masterminded a secret program to possess atomic arms. In view of the wealth of incriminating detail that the IAEA presented in the report, that omission may be the only face-saving argument left to Tehran to permit diplomacy to continue as usual.
And because the report draws no conclusions about how far along Iran's nuclear weapons program is, it will be irrelevant to Israel's calculus of whether to attack Iranian nuclear installations. Since 2008, Iran has described allegations that it is working on nuclear weapons as based on falsified intelligence, similar to the kind that led the United States in 2002 to mislead the IAEA and the world that Iraq had resumed its defunct nuclear weapons program.
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Council on Foreign Relations
The International Atomic Energy Agency's latest report says that Iran "is working on research and development of nuclear weapons in a very systematic way" but falls short of confirming that Iran actually has such weapons. Mark Hibbs, a leading expert on nuclear development, says "the impression you have is that all of these things together look like a nuclear weapons program. That's of great concern."
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Elaine M. Grossman | Global Security Newswire
The U.S. Defense Department expects by the end of the year to update its plans for the nation's nuclear weapons posture, potentially setting the stage for further reductions in the arsenal, a senior defense official said last week. The so-called "NPR Implementation Study" will build on last year's Nuclear Posture Review, a major Pentagon-led assessment of forces, strategy and readiness.
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Japan Times
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Monday it supports Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s view that the recent detection of radioactive xenon at one of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was not a result of a sustained nuclear chain reaction, as earlier feared. NISA said what is known as "spontaneous" fission created the xenon-135.
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Asia One News
North Korea will soon start operating a new home-built nuclear reactor, its official news agency said Thursday in a commentary one year after Pyongyang publicly disclosed the plant. "The day is near at hand when a light-water reactor entirely based on domestic resources and technology will come into operation in the DPRK," the agency said.
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Global Security Newswire
Russia on Tuesday appeared to turn down an invitation made last month by the United States to participate in a U.S. missile interceptor trial, according to an Interfax report. The offer was extended by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency as a means of reassuring Moscow that U.S. missile interceptors pose no threat to Russia's long-range nuclear weapons.
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About Proliferation News
Produced twice weekly, Proliferation News provides a free summary of news and analysis on efforts to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons. Visit the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program website for further information and resources. Please send your comments and suggestions to the editor at proliferationnews@carnegieendowment.org.
About the Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program
The Carnegie Nuclear Policy Program is an internationally acclaimed source of expertise and policy thinking on nuclear industry, nonproliferation, security, and disarmament. Its multinational staff stays at the forefront of nuclear policy issues in the United States, Russia, China, Northeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.
About the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results.
As it celebrates its Centennial, the Carnegie Endowment is pioneering the first global think tank, with offices now in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, Beirut, and Brussels. These five locations include the centers of world governance and the places whose political evolution and international policies will most determine the near-term possibilities for international peace and economic advance. |
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