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Intel Inside

IN THIS ISSUE: Intel inside, is Xi Jinping changing Chinese nuclear weapons policy?, dealing with Pakistan's brinkmanship, Georgia details nuke investigations, France denies claims it will ditch year-round seaborne nuclear deterrent, N. Korea Shows signs of disassembling rocket.

Published on December 11, 2012
 

Intel Inside

Mark Hibbs | Foreign Policy

Amano

The headline of an alarming report published by the Associated Press two weeks ago said that an Iranian document with some nuclear weapon yield calculations written on it "suggests that Iran is working on a bomb."

That, however, was not why the document was significant: there's already plenty of evidence supporting the allegation that Iran has done nuclear weapons-related work since the late 1980s. Some of it suggests this work has continued until recently. The piece of paper aired by the AP will not and cannot provide additional support for that claim because we don't know enough about it.   Full Article



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Gregory Kulacki | Union of Concerned Scientists
Newly appointed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping may have broken new ground in Chinese nuclear weapons policy this week. Xi's speech marked the "first time the mission and status of China's strategic nuclear forces were articulated in a public setting."     Full Article

Shyam Saran | Hindu
During the past decade, there have been notable shifts in Pakistan's nuclear doctrine, away from minimum deterrence to second strike capability and towards expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal to include both strategic and tactical weapons. These shifts are apparent from the following developments.     Full Article

The Moscow Times
Despite years of effort and hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the fight against the illicit sale of nuclear contraband, the black market remains active in the countries around the former Soviet Union. The radioactive materials include nuclear-bomb-grade uranium and plutonium and dirty-bomb isotopes like cesium and iridium.     Full Article

Henry Samuel | Telegraph
France has been forced to deny claims it will no longer possess a year-round seaborne nuclear deterrent under draft plans to reduce its nuclear submarine fleet as part of a defence "revolution". The idea is among several "shock proposals" being discussed ahead of France's much-awaited Defence White Paper for 2014-2019.     Full Article

Kim Young-jin | Korea Times
North Korea shows signs of disassembling a long-range rocket to fix technical problems that have forced the regime to extend its window for a launch, according to a report on Tuesday. Satellite images show workers and engineers dismantling the three stage Unha-3 rocket.    Full Article
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