Chinese Thinking On Nuclear Weapons
Li Bin | Arms Control Association
Chinese nuclear experts began to join international nuclear dialogues in the late 1970s when China launched its policy of reform and openness. Their communications with U.S. nuclear experts are sometimes difficult and inefficient, in part because of differences in the ways that Americans and Chinese think about nuclear weapons.One aspect of this divergence is terminology. Some international efforts have been undertaken to develop a common language among nuclear experts from different countries by compiling multilanguage nuclear glossaries.1 These glossaries are a useful first step to smoothen international communication on nuclear issues, but they are not enough to eliminate misunderstandings caused by divergent beliefs and analytical paradigms.
Iran and the Evolution of Safeguards
Mark Hibbs | chapter in Verification and Implementation
In February 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that the Islamic Republic of Iran had secretly developed the technical basis for an industrial-scale uranium enrichment programme using gas centrifuges. Shortly thereafter the IAEA determined that a deliberate Iranian ‘policy of concealment’ systematically deceived the IAEA for twenty years about the scope of Iran’s nuclear activities. These activities included undeclared uranium enrichment and plutonium separation, in contravention of Iran’s bilateral safeguards agreement with the agency.
Iranian MPs Urge Reaction to US, IAEA’s Breach of JCPOA
Tasnim News
A number of Iranian lawmakers, in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, voiced their protest at the breach of the recent nuclear deal with six world powers, also known as the JCPOA, by the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Javad Karimi Qoddousi, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the letter has been signed by 50 MPs.
Nuclear Subs Returning to Ports
Michael Melia | Associated Press
Nuclear-armed U.S. submarines that went more than a decade without calling on foreign ports in part because of post-Sept. 11 security concerns are once again visiting other countries, a shift intended to underscore their global presence and lift sailor morale. A stop in September by USS Wyoming in the United Kingdom was the first of what are expected to be occasional visits to foreign ports.
US Missile Shield Unable to Repel Massive Russian ICBM Attack–Chief of Strategic Missile Forces
RT
The existing US missile shield is incapable of withstanding a massive strike of Russian nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Troops told a press conference. The analysis of Russian military experts has found that “neither the firepower potential, nor the data computing capacity of the currently deployed US missile defense” installations could deal with a swarm attack of the Russian nuclear triad, Strategic Missile Troops Commander, Colonel General Sergey Karakaev, told journalists Wednesday.
China Deploys First Nuclear Deterrence Patrol
Benjamin David Baker | Diplomat
During the Cold War, nuclear deterrence was ultimately perceived to be an effective way of keeping tensions between the Warsaw Pact and NATO from exploding into war. Although much of the rhetoric surrounding Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) disappeared along with the Soviet Union, nuclear states still keep sizable arsenals to dissuade others from attacking them.