[GANA] / Nuclear_Weapons_Future - Apr., May, Jun. 2007 - archive

Iran expands uranium enrichment effort

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:50:00 GMT

ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer:

"NATANZ, Iran - Iran announced a dramatic expansion of uranium enrichment Monday, saying it has begun operating 3,000 centrifuges -- nearly 10 times the previously known number -- in defiance of U.N. demands it halt its nuclear program or face increased sanctions.

U.S. experts say 3,000 centrifuges are in theory enough to produce a nuclear weapon, perhaps within a year. But they doubted Iran really had so many up and running, a difficult technical feat given the country's spotty success with a much smaller number.

Instead, the announcement may aim to increase support at home amid growing criticism of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to boost Iran's hand with the West by presenting its program as established, said Michael Levi, a nonproliferation expert at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations.

"From a political perspective, it's more important to have (3,000 centrifuges) in place than to have them run properly," Levi told The Associated Press. "We have an unfortunate habit to take Iran at its word when they make scary announcements."...."

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Iran rules out nuclear suspension

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:50:00 GMT

AFP:

"TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran will not accept any suspension of its sensitive nuclear activities, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday, urging world powers to accept the "new reality" of its industrial uranium enrichment.

Iran said on Tuesday it is still seeking to hugely expand its nuclear programme by installing 50,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a nuclear plant after announcing its atomic drive had entered an industrial phase.

"The objective of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not just the installation of 3,000 centrifuges at the Natanz plant but we are doing everything to install 50,000 centrifuges," said Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation...."

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Weighing the Iranian Nuclear Threat

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Michael Hirsh, Newsweek:

"April 9, 2007 - David Albright, a physicist and former United Nations nuclear inspector, is one of the world's most respected experts on rogue nuclear programs. The president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a Washington-based nongovernmental organization, Albright is especially noted for his close tracking of Iran's program. On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that Tehran, in defiance of the United Nations, was now capable of producing "industrial-scale" enrichment of uranium. "With great honor, I declare that as of today our dear country has joined the nuclear club of nations," Ahmadinejad said. While Iranian officials continue to deny that they are pursuing enrichment to make nuclear weapons, U.S. and European governments believe that is clearly Tehran's intention. NEWSWEEK's Michael Hirsh asked Albright about Ahmadinejad's announcement and his assessment of Iran's nuclear program. Excerpts:..."

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Iran Enriching "On Industrial Scale"

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:30:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis at ArmsControlWonk:

"Whatever.

So, in case you missed it ... some members of the news media are freaking out reporting Ahmadinejad's claim that Iran is enriching uranium "on an industrial scale," Larijani's claim that Iran is running UF6 though 3,000 centrifuges," and the usual pundits warnings that the end of the world is just around the corner ... Repent!

Seriously people, you should just write it on a placard and wander the streets ringing a bell.

As far as I can tell, the technical people have said two things:..."

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Russia, France doubt Iran nuclear claims

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 19:40:00 GMT

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer:

"MOSCOW - Russia voiced skepticism Tuesday about Iran's announcement of a dramatic expansion of its uranium enrichment program, saying it had yet to receive confirmation of the claim from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. France and Australia also questioned Iran's claim of acquiring an industrial-scale nuclear fuel production capability...."

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Iran has shares in French nuclear facility

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 08:30:00 GMT

Rob Edwards, Environment Editor, SundayHerald:

"Eurodif holding shows 'hypocrisy' of non-proliferation treaty

WESTERN GOVERNMENTS have been accused of "stunning hypocrisy" after it was revealed that Iran has a 10% stake in the world's largest uranium enrichment plant in France.

All the time that Britain, France and the US have been pressing the Iranian government to cease enriching uranium, the Islamic republic has been reaping multimillion pound dividends from its shareholding in Eurodif, an international enrichment plant at Pierrelatte in southern France.

Because of its involvement, Iran has also been learning more about the latest enrichment technology. It claims that it only wants to enrich uranium to improve its performance as a fuel in nuclear power stations, but Western nations are worried that it will be used to make nuclear bombs...."

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The Permanent Nth Country Experiment -- Nuclear Weapons Proliferation in a Rapidly Changing World

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 10:30:00 GMT

Mycle Schneider, International Consultant on Energy and Nuclear Policy:

".."The purpose of the so-called 'Nth Country Experiment' is to find out, if a credible nuclear explosive can be designed, with a modest effort, by a few well-trained people without contact with classified information. The goal of the participants should be to design an explosive with a militarily significant yield. A working context for the experiment might be that the participants have been asked to design a nuclear explosive which, if built in small numbers, would give a small nation a significant effect on their foreign relations."

Operating Rules

for the Nth Country Experiment

1964"...."

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Dick and Matt on the P(Terror Farm)

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 06:50:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis, at ArmsControlWonk:

"Speaking of that ranch in Montana...

Dick Garwin tells Congress that, in his formidable opinion, the chance of a successful terrorist use of a nuclear weapon in the United States or Europe is twenty percent per year:

GARWIN: What we are missing is really the response to a terrorist nuclear explosion in a Western city. I think Senator Nunn alluded to this. We need to organize ourselves so that if we lose a couple hundred thousand people, which is less than a tenth percent of our population, it doesn't destroy the country politically or economically.

But we need to have a way to survive such an attack, which I think is quite likely - maybe 20 percent per year probability, with American cities and European cities included. And we need to be able to survive that. We have no real planning to do it in the business community or in the government.

EDWARDS: I'm sorry. What did you say, Dr. Garwin, the probabilities were? Twenty percent?

GARWIN: Yes, to have a nuclear explosion - not just a contamination dirty bomb - in the next year, 20 percent in my estimation. Could be 10 percent, not 100 percent.

EDWARDS: If that doesn't wake up this country, I don't know what would.

[Full text in the comments].... "

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Iran May Be The Greatest Crisis Of Modern Times

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:00:00 GMT

John Pilger at ichblog.eu (Information Clearing House Blog):

"We are being led towards perhaps the most serious crisis in modern history as the Bush-Cheney-Blair "long war" edges closer to Iran for no reason other than that nation's independence from rapacious America.

04/12/07 "ICH" --- - In a cover piece for the New Statesman, John Pilger evokes the memory of Germans 'looking from the side' at Bergen-Belsen to describe the challenge facing us in the West as the Bush/Blair 'long war' becomes 'perhaps the greatest crisis of modern times'

It is time we in Britain and other Western countries stopped looking from the side. We are being led towards perhaps the most serious crisis in modern history as the Bush-Cheney-Blair "long war" edges closer to Iran for no reason other than that nation's independence from rapacious America. The safe delivery of the 15 British sailors into the hands of Rupert Murdoch and his rivals (with tales of their "ordeal" almost certainly authored by the Ministry of Defence - until it got the wind up) is both a farce and a distraction. The Bush administration, in secret connivance with Blair, has spent four years preparing for "Operation Iranian Freedom". Forty-five cruise missiles are primed to strike. According to Russia's leading strategic thinker General Leonid Ivashov: "Nuclear facilities will be secondary targets... at least 20 such facilities need to be destroyed. Combat nuclear weapons may be used. This will result in the radioactive contamination of all the Iranian territory, and beyond."...."

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Iran offers to share nuclear expertise with GCC states

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 11:10:00 GMT

Barbara Bibbo, at gulfnews.com:

"Doha: Iran is ready to share its nuclear technology with Gulf countries and open its research facilities to create confidence among neighbours and demolish the charge that the country is on its way to building a nuclear bomb, Iranian officials here said.

While supporting Iran's stance over the use of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, Gulf countries have at times expressed concerns over a nuclear build-up in the region and the risks posed to the environment.

"Gulf countries know we are not building any nuclear weapons. They rather fear Bushehr plant [currently under construction] may cause an environmental disaster. But we invite them to visit us and to carry out investigations and inspections of our facilities," Alireza Shaikhattar, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs of Iran, told Gulf News...."

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Eye on Iran, Rivals Pursuing Nuclear Power

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT

WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER at nytimes.com:

"Two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. Today, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.

So, too, Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programs. While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East.

"The rules have changed," King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "Everybody's going for nuclear programs."

The Middle East states say they only want atomic power. Some probably do. But United States government and private analysts say they believe that the rush of activity is also intended to counter the threat of a nuclear Iran...."

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Nagasaki mayor, Iccho Ito, Murdered - Green MP salutes long time peace campaigner

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:00:00 GMT

Press Release: New Zealand Green Party:

"Green MP Keith Locke is mourning the death of Nagasaki mayor, Iccho Ito, a long time campaigner for nuclear disarmament, who died this morning after being struck by an assassin's bullet last night...."

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Nagasaki mayor, Iccho Ito, Murdered - Bad road linked to mayor murder

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:10:00 GMT

News.Com.Au:

"THE man suspected of gunning down the mayor of Nagasaki apparently had grievances with the city after his vehicle was damaged due to poor maintenance on a road.

Tetsuya Shiroo, 59, was also a member of a local gang affiliated with Japan's largest organised crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, police said...."

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ASATs and Crisis Instability - Prompt Global Strike Update.

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:00:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis at ArmsControlWonk.com:

"This is a slide from an August 2005 presentation by Colonel Rick Patenaude, chief of the deterrence and strike division within Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), entitled, Prompt Global Strike Update.

I've posted the slide, because Patenaude reveals something very profound and dangerous about China's recent anti-satellite test.

A few weeks ago, when asked about China's antisatellite test, General Cartwright made clear that the United States did not need to respond "in space" by developing its own ASATS. When asked what capability he would like, Cartwright responded with one phrase "global strike."

Colonel Patenaude's slide and General Cartwright response suggest that the United States is unlikely, in response to the spread of ASAT technologies, to invest in either defensive measures or our own antisatellite systems. Instead, U.S. military planners will place ever more emphasis on preemption-acting before the Chinese or someone else starts zapping and plunking the satellites upon which we've become extremely dependent...."

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Iran - 1,300 Centrifuges at the FEP

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:10:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis at ArmsControlWonk.com:

"Ah, the mighty "told you so."

Paul and moi expressed skepticism last week that Iran had 3,000 centrifuges, sticking with the six cascades (984) reported at the end of March plus one or more 164-machine cascades after.

Now, Paul points to AP, Reuters (Heinrich) and AFP reporting "Iran has provided information to the agency that it has put into operation 1,312 centrifuges" at Natanz.

(Those are at FEP, so the total number may be ten cascades. Put into operation, by the way, means the Iranians are feeding UF6 aka hex.)

Hmm, how could Paul and I have been so prescient? Well, we cheated, of course. "I can't provide details," Paul adds, "but the 1312 number is consistent with some information that I received a couple of weeks ago."

Amazing what a couple of beers will buy you in this town...."

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Iran - What About the OTHER Bomb Factory?

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:20:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis at ArmsControlWonk.com:

"Dafna Linzer helpfully confirms that the IC is sticking with its 2015 estimate for an Iranian bomb, noting that Iran still cannot operate continuously its cascades of centrifuges:

"The whole game for the Iranians is to present a fait accompli," said one U.S. official who agreed to discuss sensitive aspects of the program on the condition of anonymity. "They can put thousands and thousands of centrifuges together, but if none operate the way they need to over a sustained period, then they haven't mastered enrichment. But they want to create the impression that they have and then use it as a bargaining ploy in negotiations."

Wow, that sounds familiar.

Meanwhile, Iran's efforts to build the IR-40 reactor near Arak are relegated to below the fold in most news stories. (That is metaphorical, I haven't seen a hard copy of a newspaper in months)

SERIOUSLY CAN SOMEONE FREAK OUT ABOUT THE OTHER BOMB FACTORY?...."

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Extend START

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:30:00 GMT

Jeffrey Lewis at ArmsControlWonk.com:

"Jennifer Mackby and Edward Ifft remind us that START is set to expire and that letting START expire would suck:

The crowning international security agreement that reduced and stabilized nuclear forces in the former Soviet Union and the United States is set to expire in 2009. [snip] START established an ingenious and highly effective monitoring/verification regime that also provided the basis for the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), or Moscow Treaty, which has no verification provisions of its own...."

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US-India nuclear fuel deal under threat

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 20:40:00 GMT

Edward Luce in Washington and Jo Johnson in New Delhi in the Financial Times:

"The historic civil nuclear deal between the US and India is running into serious difficulties over New Delhi's insistence that the Bush administration rewrite elements of the law enacted by Congress last year.

US state department officials say that India's negotiating stance risks unravelling the deal, which gives India unprecedented access to nuclear fuel without requiring it to sign up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The agreement was enacted by large margins on Capitol Hill in December and marked a dramatic breakthrough following a history of often tense relations between the two countries...."

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India-US Nuclear Deal - Taking care of the last lap

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:00:00 GMT

Opinion - Editorials in The Hindu:

"With nuclear negotiations between India and the United States entering the final pit stop, it is evident that political intervention from the highest levels is needed to ensure full and complete delivery of the promises Washington made on July ...."

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India-US Nuclear Deal - Major obstacles persist in nuclear deal

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:10:00 GMT

Siddharth Varadarajan in The Hindu:

".."Big problems" remain on scope of cooperation, termination conditions

+ U.S. insists on including a "right of return" clause

+ Menon will try to give political push at meeting with Burns

...."

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India-US Nuclear Deal - Fall-back safeguards, NSG, sequencing remain areas of concern in nuclear talks

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:15:00 GMT

Siddharth Varadarajan in The Hindu:

"NEW DELHI: Apart from big-ticket obstacles like the "right of return" and fuel supply assurances, negotiators from India and the U.S. have not managed to bridge their differences on the sequencing of next steps in the implementation process for ..."

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Dear Ambassador - Letter to Delegates to NPT Prepcom

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:30:00 GMT

John Hallam, Doug Mattern, Irene Gale, Alyn Ware, Ak Malten, Alfred L. Marder:

"FRIENDS OF THE EARTH AUSTRALIA

ASSOCIATION OF WORLD CITIZENS

INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PEACE MESSENGER CITIES

GLOBAL ANTI NUCLEAR ALLIANCE

AUSTRALIAN PEACE COMMITTEE

TO:

NPT PREPCOM DELEGATES, AMBASSADORS AND FOREIGN MINISTERS

RE: NPT PREPCOM

Dear Foreign Minister, Ambassador, or NPT Prepcom Delegate:

The first Preparatory Committee for the 2010 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review will meet in Vienna from 30 April - 11 May 2007. This meeting takes place against the background of increased international tension around nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, proliferation and disarmament, and against an increased need to make real progress in a balanced manner on both disarmament and non-proliferation.

Continued failure to progress on either nuclear disarmament or on non-proliferation is likely to lead to a non-proliferation breakout in which an increasing number of nations have fingers on nuclear triggers, and in which nuclear doctrines are adopted by the established nuclear weapons powers that also make the actual use of nuclear weapons more and more likely. The continuance of this process without a change in direction will lead inexorably to the actual use of nuclear weapons by madness, malice, miscalculation or malfunction. The rumours, justified or otherwise that nuclear weapons might possibly be used by the US against Iran is in this context, most disturbing.

Article VI of the NPT mandates real progress toward the elimination of nuclear arsenals by the existing NWS. Progress on article VI obligations is essential of the world is not to slide toward an abyss in which the actual use of nuclear weapons becomes more and more likely.

125 countries in December 2006 indicated their desire "to achieve the objective of a legally binding prohibition of the development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, threat or use of nuclear weapons and their destruction under effective international control." They called once again upon all States immediately to fulfil their obligation to negotiate disarmament in good faith, "by commencing multilateral negotiations leading to an early conclusion of a nuclear weapons convention prohibiting the development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, transfer, threat or use of nuclear weapons and providing for their elimination. (A/RES/61/83 'Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons')...."

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Conference on Disarmament on the verge of ending 10 years of inaction

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 15:40:00 GMT

Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor, The City of Hiroshima, President, Mayors for Peace:

"....April 13, 2007

-Name of the Head of Government-

-Title-

-Address -

-Country-

-Salutation-

I am writing to you today regarding am important opportunity to begin substantive work on nuclear disarmament at the Conference on Disarmament.

With the occasional exception, you no doubt leave arms control and disarmament matters to your diplomats in Geneva, New York, and Vienna. I write hoping to persuade you that we face an exceptional occasion.

After ten barren years, the Conference on Disarmament verges today on agreement on the process by which to address four key international security concerns. Building on a tradition begun last year, the six ambassadors slated to chair the CD this year have collectively put forward a proposal for work by the CD. As the six come from a wide variety of political perspectives, it is not surprising their proposal has very broad support. However, reservations have been expressed, and its final consideration has been postponed until an unspecified date prior to May 14th.

I appeal to each and every one of you to take personal responsibility for building unified support for this proposal in the coming days and weeks. Its acceptance would mean that negotiations would begin on a treaty to cut off the production of fissile materials for weapons purposes (FMCT). It would also mean the commencement of substantive discussion on legally binding guarantees that non-nuclear-weapon states will not be subjected to nuclear threats (so-called negative security assurances or NSAs). Substantive discussion would also begin on the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS)

Dearest to my heart, a third area of substantive discussion would also open up: nuclear disarmament and the prevention of use of nuclear weapons...."

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Securing our Survival (SOS)- The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention --(Including the Updated Model Convention)

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:00:00 GMT

International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA); International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation (INESAP); International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW):

"Securing our Survival

(SOS)

The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention

Including the Updated Model Convention on the Prohibition of the

Development, Testing, Production, Stockpiling, Transfer, Use and

Threat of Use of Nuclear Weapons and on their Elimination

With Commentary and Responses

Foreword by Judge C.G. Weeramantry

International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms

International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

The model Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) presented in this book is a draft model treaty for the phased elimination of nuclear weapons. It is a revised edition of the model NWC submitted by Costa Rica to the United Nations Secretary-General as a discussion draft, UN Doc. A/C.1/52/7 (1997), and contained in Security and Survival: The Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (1999).

The book and the model NWC are non-governmental initiatives to further the goal of nuclear weapons abolition. The commentary and revisions to the model reflect governmental and non-governmental responses to the 1997 and 1999 versions...."

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The Watercone or RE: IAEA -- Countries Pursue Nuclear Energy for Water, Hydrogen Production

Tue, 01 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance [GANA]:

"The Watercone or RE: IAEA -- Countries Pursue Nuclear Energy for Water, Hydrogen Production

Dear reader,

The IAEA shows on their website the following article:

Countries Pursue Nuclear Energy for Water, Hydrogen Production

Automobiles running on hydrogen fuel cells and water purified from the sea are part of an unfolding future, and experts think nuclear energy can play a bigger role. Specialists are meeting this month in Japan at an international symposium keyed to applications of nuclear energy beyond the production of electricity....

see URL: http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2007/nucleardesal.html

BUT ... For Those Who Want To Make Saltwater Sweet,

There Is An Alternative Green AND Lifesaving Solar Powered Solution

FOR A FRACTION OF THE COST OF A NUCLEAR POWERED SYSTEM:

The Watercone : http://www.watercone.com/pics/scetch300.gif

The Watercone is a solar powered water desalinator that takes salt or brackish water and generates freshwater. It is simple to use, lightweight and mobile. The technology is simple in design and use and is described by simple pictograms. With max. 1,6 liters a day the Watercone is an ideal device to cover a childs daily need of freshwater. UNICEF: "every day 5000 children die as a result of diarrhea caused by drinking unsafe water"...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Monday, April 30, 2007 (No.1)

Thu, 03 May 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Reaching Critical Will's News In Review:

"Now is the perfect time

by Susi Snyder, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom

Welcome to Vienna, the home of the International Atomic Energy Agency, located in a country whose Parliament voted unanimously to reject nuclear energy. Over four hundred governmental officials and three hundred NGO representatives have registered to participate in the first meeting of the eighth review cycle of the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. We arrive shuffling stacks of new ideas, our suitcases full of visions for a better world, to take this opportunity to strengthen our collective security.

Ambassador Amano of Japan has been working hard to gain consensus on an agenda for this conference, and he is reportedly close to success. Although states parties will not be taking substantive decisions at this meeting, they can start by agreeing on an agenda, debating the pressing issues, presenting and discussing innovative working papers and developing strategies to deal with disagreements. Any state that uses procedure to block discussions at this meeting is delivering a clear signal to the world that it believes preventing such discussions is more important that the Treaty itself.

It is well known that the 2005 NPT Review Conference ended without any substantive outcome because a few states parties used procedural arguments to prevent discussions on critical issues, resulting in seventeen days of procedural delay. This Preparatory Committee comes at a time when multilateral disarmament diplomacy has moved past the repeated failures of 2005 and into the modest incremental successes of 2006, but is still in crisis mode.

Delegates to this PrepCom have an opportunity to continue the trend of positive outcomes exemplified in the Biological Weapons Convention Review Conference, and in advances made in the Conference on Disarmament, which is inching closer to negotiating a Fissile Materials Treaty.

This first Preparatory Committee is supposed to be a place to discuss the most important issues of the review cycle, so states and NGOs focus on discussing ideas and circulating proposals. The Non Aligned Movement, chaired by Cuba, will be presenting more than a half dozen working papers. The NGO community has brought ample food for thought, including a launch today (1:30pm, Conference Room A) of Securing Our Survival, an updated case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention. Reaching Critical Will is launching an updated Model Nuclear Inventory, providing factual information on states' weapons and fissile materials holdings; and Nuclear Disorder, a civil society response to the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission Report will be distributed. These inputs generated by NGO experts are intended to stimulate and nurture the discussions that will lead to action to fully implement the NPT and rid the world, once and for all, of these weapons of terror.

During this review cycle, there are opportunities for significant changes in global power structures and perceptions. It is not enough for states parties to repeat rhetoric while nuclear weapon states move towards qualitative improvements in their arsenals. NPT states parties must examine all aspects of this treaty, reflect on the achievements of the past, and recognize that now is the perfect time to make a path forward to a Nuclear Weapons Convention...."

Day 1 of Reaching Critical Will's News In Review

The News in Review is a daily publication throughout the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conferences designed to provide a wide range of NGO voices to the governmental delegates, and to provide daily updates to those unable to attend the conference.

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Tuesday, May 1, 2007 (No.2)

Thu, 03 May 2007 09:10:00 GMT

Reaching Critical Will's News In Review:

"The Definition of Compliance

by Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will

At quarter to six on the first day of the PrepCom, Chairman Amano called the question on the disputed agenda and nearly had his gavel down before Iran raised its placard. Iran, which has a problem with the last clause of the proposed substantive agenda, "reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty", suggested the PrepCom adopt an agenda without that clause instead. Delegates seemed relatively surprised at this turn of events, and eventually Germany on behalf of the EU, and Canada spoke in support of Amano's agenda.

After the 2005 Review Conference spent two-thirds of its time arguing over the agenda and other procedural issues, this back and forth is frighteningly familiar. As always, these procedural disagreements are about substance, it is just more difficult to discern what is happening and why. In 2005, Iran and Egypt wanted more recognition of the 2000 disarmament commitments and the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, and more attention paid to negative security assurances. Iran also wanted to avoid any censure of its nuclear programme. The United States wanted to condemn the Iranian programme, and avoid any discussion of its own disarmament commitments from the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences.

This time around, it appears Iran is alone in trying to avoid censure. The United States agreed to include reference to the outcomes of 1995 and 2000, although 2000 was simply in succession with the outcomes of all other review conferences, and Egypt was apparently satisfied with the reference to the 1995 resolution on the Middle East. Russia, however, spoke last, and invited delegates to "do their homework" and consider Iran's proposal as a compromise to facilitate early agreement on the agenda. Then, the Russian delegate said, anyone could raise any issue at any time. Russia purportedly does not have a problem with Amano's original agenda and its attention to compliance.

Reaching Critical Will decided to take up this invitation to do homework, and compared Amano's proposed agenda with the 2002 PrepCom's agreed agenda that Iran proposed instead. There are two main differences. First, this year's agenda contains a weaker reference to the 2000 outcome, and therefore to the landmark agreement on 13 practical steps to nuclear disarmament. Second, in considering "developments that affect the operation of the Treaty," this agenda adds that the PrepCom should consider "approaches and measures to realize [the Treaty's] purpose, reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty."

Iran obviously thinks "reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty" refers to concerns about its nuclear programme, given the repetition of similar connections in today's General Debate. A large number of governments also called on nuclear weapon states to fulfill their Article VI obligations. As New Zealand said, the obligations states parties have agreed to over the years provide the benchmarks for judging performance. It is important for this PrepCom to assess compliance with the Article VI obligations of the NPT, particularly given that the United Kingdom just agreed to renew Trident, the United States is in the process modernizing it nuclear infrastructure, and France recently expanded the range of situations in which it is willing to use nuclear weapons.

Unfortunately, the Treaty does not have a mechanism equivalent to the International Atomic Energy Agency that would assess compliance with Article VI, and the Article VI obligations are not as specific as the non-proliferation obligations. The PrepCom should discuss this institutional deficit and attempt to remedy it. Doing so would increase the balance in the Treaty. States parties who are in compliance should have no fear of discussing all relevant issues, or strengthening provisions for compliance with all aspects of the Treaty...."

Day 2 of Reaching Critical Will's News In Review

The News in Review is a daily publication throughout the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conferences designed to provide a wide range of NGO voices to the governmental delegates, and to provide daily updates to those unable to attend the conference.

More _Nuclear_Weapon_ and _Peace_Culture_ related news and documents selected by

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Wednesday, May 2, 2007 (No.3)

Thu, 03 May 2007 09:15:00 GMT

Reaching Critical Will's News In Review:

"An Agenda to Take Us Forward

by Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will

Tuesday passed with still no agreement on the agenda for this year's NPT PrepCom. Chairman Amano is continuing to consult, he said "with a view to ensuring support for the agenda that [he] proposed. Iran is worried that adopting an agenda that includes considering "compliance" will formalize the discussions about its nuclear programme and increase the possibility that something ends up in the factual summary of the meeting. It still looks like Iran will may be alone in blocking the agenda, so Iran needs to decide if unilaterally opposing agreement in a multilateral disarmament forum is more or less costly than the possibility of censure in the factual summary.

Meanwhile, the PrepCom has continued with its General Debate, in which states are assessing the current state of disarmament and non-proliferation and proposing solutions. Throughout the General Debate, states have emphasized the importance of upholding and building on the commitments made to nuclear disarmament at the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences, especially the creation of a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (1995) and the 13 Practical Steps (2000) to measure the implementation of Article VI obligations. As Ireland said on behalf of the New Agenda Coalition, it is time to build on previous commitments and move forward. Ireland suggested that nuclear weapon states publish the contents and status of their nuclear arsenals. Such a transparency measure would not only build confidence and "act as the baseline for nuclear disarmament", it would prevent nuclear weapon states from disingenuous disarmament claims about dismantling warheads that have been in storage for 20 years. Because Reaching Critical Will agrees that determining what weapons are where will be the first step in a comprehensive global disarmament program, we put out a Model Nuclear Inventory every year. We hope this PrepCom will hold discussions on how to institutionalize and formalize this reporting requirement, which was agreed to in 2000.

On Monday, Costa Rica announced that it would be introducing an updated model nuclear weapons convention as an NPT document. The model convention was developed by international lawyers, disarmament experts and activists, and is part of the continuing trend of fruitful cooperation between NGOs and like-minded governments. Costa Rica originally introduced the convention to the General Assembly in 1997. The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation, and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms have updated the arguments for the viability of a nuclear weapons convention in their publication Securing our Survival: the Case for a Nuclear Weapons Convention, launched on Monday. Malaysia happily noted this in its Tuesday statement. A nuclear weapons convention should be discussed in this PrepCom as a way to forge the new disarmament consensus we seek.

States also recalled the prohibition against nuclear cooperation with states that are not members of the NPT. Some of these statements are clearly complaints about states that have nuclear cooperation with Israel, but the majority were referring to the proposed US-India deal. States parties to the NPT should prevent this proposal from undermining the premise of the NPT, and call on the Nuclear Suppliers Group to do so as well.

There is a great deal to discuss at this PrepCom, and much to be done in this Review Cycle. A half dozen governments have announced that they will submit working papers this PrepCom, and NGOs have books of solutions. Governments need to agree on the agenda today so the work can begin...."

Day 3 of Reaching Critical Will's News In Review

The News in Review is a daily publication throughout the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conferences designed to provide a wide range of NGO voices to the governmental delegates, and to provide daily updates to those unable to attend the conference.

More _Nuclear_Weapon_ and _Peace_Culture_ related news and documents selected by

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NGO presentations on Wednesday, May 2 to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee meeting (April 30 - May 11, 2007)

Thu, 03 May 2007 18:00:00 GMT

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance [GANA]:

"NGO presentations on Wednesday, May 2 to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee meeting (April 30 - May 11, 2007)

List edited and commented by Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance [GANA]:

Please note: The NGO presentations were given in groups and can be found in the folowing documents in PDF-format ((original list by Reaching Critical Will can be found below)): ...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Thursday, May 3, 2007 (No.4)

Thu, 03 May 2007 18:10:00 GMT

Susi Snyder,Women's International League for Peace and Freedom:

"Still unable to reach consensus on the proposed agenda, substantive debates at this PrepCom are postponed until 3 PM today. Instead of moving directly into the focused disarmament discussions, as outlined on the indicative timetable, Chairman Amano will conduct "intensive consultations" with states and regional groupings, seeking consensus on the proposed agenda.

Iran is continuing to block consensus because it objects to the inclusion of "reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty" in the proposed agenda. While the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has not publicly distanced itself from its Iranian member, Iran, and Iran alone, is blocking agreement and thus movement forward.

In order to avoid the infamous procedural nightmare that mired the 2005 Review, perhaps diplomacy can take a cue from the private sector, whose emphasis on efficiency and productivity may be as foreign as possible to those of us in the political world.

In the business world, there is a managerial analysis called SWOT, whereby management assesses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that arise in any process. In order for Iran-and all states parties for that matter-to more effectively exercise the art of the practical, such a SWOT analysis could be a useful tool to assess where we are and provide insight on how to move forward.

There are several strengths with which we can work, derived from both the international political climate as well as this specific PrepCom. These include: an agenda that includes both the 1995 resolution on the Middle East and the 2000 outcome document; a strengthened and renewed New Agenda Coalition; an active and evolving Non-Aligned Movement; a relatively congenial and constructive approach by the United States, demonstrated in their recent compromise in the Conference on Disarmament and their willingness to work with an NPT agenda including 1995 and 2000; the recent positive tones and movement in the CD; and the recent success of the heretofore stalled UN Disarmament Commission, which concluded last week with a working paper that contained ten fundamental principles for the implementation of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

These strengths are accompanied by several weaknesses, the utmost of which is the current failure to adopt an agenda. It is unfair and manipulative for Iran to object to the agenda at the last minute, after months of intensive consultations. We are plagued by other relevant weaknesses as well, including that the CTBT has not yet entered-into-force, the continued vertical proliferation in the nuclear weapon states, the struggle to bring the DPRK back into the NPT fold, and other such oft-cited predicaments.

Despite these problems, there exist several opportunities which must be seized. Chairman Amano's agenda gives the chance to assess compliance in all its aspects-an opportunity that the Iranians have yet to recognize in the very wording they oppose. While they see the reference in the agenda to "full compliance" as an invitation for states to heap criticism on their nuclear programme, they should also see it as an opportunity to address compliance with Articles VI, IV, the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, the 13 steps, and the other elements that make the NPT the cornerstone of our international security regime. By seizing such an opportunity-rather than squelching it in a purely defensive posture-all states can work to set a framework for 2010 and begin to build the consensus necessary for a strong outcome document.

If states do not recognize our strengths, mitigate our weaknesses, or seize our opportunities, they risk increasing the threats to our security-including further treaty outbreaks, a cascade of proliferation and, ultimately, the potential collapse of the entire disarmament and non-proliferation regime and our global security structure based on cooperation and the rule of law.

The longer we delay, the less time there will be for talking about nuclear disarmament. We expect all states to find a way to agree at 3pm today to get back to the substantive work we came here to do. The world needs this PrepCom and this review cycle to assess and ensure compliance with the non-proliferation and disarmament obligations enshrined in the Treaty, and avoid the business as usual that has characterized disarmament machinery for the last several years...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Friday, May 4, 2007 (No.5)

Sat, 05 May 2007 14:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will:

"The 2007 PrepCom met from 3:32 to 3:37 pm on Thursday, long enough for Chairman Amano to tell us that governments' positions have not changed, and that he will continue to hold consultations. He scheduled the next meeting for this morning at 10am. Iran is still unable to accept the last clause of Amano's proposed agenda, which reads "reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty." All other governments are prepared to accept the agenda as is. In shuddering reminders of the time spent arguing over procedure at the 2005 Review Conference, governments and NGOs have used the two missed sessions to run around discussing potential solutions. To give our readers a taste of the menu of options, we have listed some below, with pros and cons, and our best guess of their success.

Option 1: The Chair reads a statement clarifying that the Committee understands that compliance means compliance with all provisions of the Treaty.

Pros: This would make the definition of compliance explicit and put it on the record, without opening the agenda. The PrepCom would be able to officially continue, by consensus, with cluster debates.

Cons: A somewhat similar compromise failed in 2005, in the infamous asterisk situation.

Likelihood of success: Iran may be unwilling to accept this solution.

Option 2: The Chair inserts "all provisions of" into the disputed clause of the agenda, between "with" and "the", so that it reads: "with all provisions of the Treaty."

Pros: This would make the definition of compliance explicit and put it on the record. The PrepCom would be able to officially continue, by consensus, with cluster debates.

Cons: Depending on how the Chair handled it, this option could open the agenda to other amendments, which would make consensus more difficult.

Likelihood of success: The Chair and/or some of the nuclear weapon states may be unwilling to accept this solution.

Option 3: The PrepCom continues without an agenda.

Pros: The PrepCom would be able to continue based on the current agenda, without a messy or embarrassing vote.

Cons: Without an officially-agreed agenda, the discussions have less authority.

Likelihood of success: Some members of the Non-Aligned Movement may be unable to accept this solution.

Option 4: The PrepCom votes on the agenda, using Rule 28 of the rules of procedure.

Pros: The PrepCom would be able to officially continue, and there would be a record of which states stood where.

Cons: Amendments could be introduced that would further divide the room, and undermine the near-consensus that exists. Also, Rule 28 stipulates that the Chair has to defer the vote for 48 hours after it comes up, meaning the PrepCom would lose another two days of work. Moreover, it would start the review process without consensus, which could undermine the legitimacy of and commitment to future agreements.

Likelihood of success: Some western states may be unable to accept this solution.

Option 5: The PrepCom uses the 2002 agenda.

Pros: This agenda refers to both the 1995 and 2000 outcome documents, but does not contain the "compliance" phrase.

Cons: This ignores the last four months of consultations by the Chair on the agenda and the current compromise that has thus been reached.

Likelihood of success: Only Iran has publicly supported this solution.

Option 6: The Chair deletes the "compliance" clause from the agenda.

Pros: This would remove the controversial clause.

Cons: The agenda would not include compliance.

Likelihood of success: unclear

Option 7: The Chair suspends the meeting.

Pros: Governments drop the pretense, reveal the situation to their citizens, and save resources. A complete failure could inspire necessary public and governmental reaction.

Cons: The PrepCom fails, beginning this review cycle with the admission that one state can stop the entire Treaty review process. The 2010 review cycle begins with a worse result than the 2005 review cycle did, at a time when the disarmament and non-proliferation regime is in crisis.

Likelihood of success: Unlikely.

Option 8: The Committee continues to meet each day for five minutes, and the Chair says that he is continuing consultations and needs more time.

Pros: The PrepCom continues to try to find solutions, and does not admit defeat.

Cons: Governments and NGOs waste time and money pretending to find solutions instead of actually finding them, or admitting the truth.

Likelihood of success: Success? hmmm. Occurence? Likely.

These discussions are about more than the diplomats in this room, they are reflective of an international security environment and macro politics in which nuclear weapons are used as threats. In order to build comprehensive, collective security, compromise agreement must be reached. All options are on the table...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Monday, May 7, 2007 (No.6)

Mon, 07 May 2007 08:20:00 GMT

Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will:

"Actively Waiting

After waiting for two and half days, the PrepCom finally debated how to solve Iran's objection to the "reaffirming full compliance with the Treaty" clause in the proposed agenda late Friday afternoon. Chairman Amano convened the session at 5:57pm, three minutes before it was scheduled to close. Delegates spent most of Friday milling around the cafeteria and windowless Plenary room A, watching the major players scuttle back and forth from the Chair's conference room. When Amano did finally arrive nearly an hour after asking the rest of us to be there, governments insisted on having their turn to debate the situation, and we all stayed through a tense 48 minutes. Between the afternoon session and the five-minute long morning session, governments attempted three of the eight potential solutions we listed in last Friday's News In Review, as well as one new option.

At the morning session, Amano tried option 1, and ruled out option 2. In his capacity as Chair, Amano explained that "compliance with the Treaty means compliance with all provisions of the Treaty." At the same time, however, he said that "reopening the language [of the agenda] continues not to be a viable option." He then announced that he would not be opening the floor, even though Canada had its placard raised. He hoped states parties would be able to agree to the agenda by 5pm and then conduct discussions according to his revised indicative timetable. Between noon and 6pm, Amano continued consulting with the main players, including Iran and the United States, to see if this or any other compromise could be reached.

When we met again at three minutes to six, Iran could not agree to this solution, and instead proposed option 2. Iran objected to continuing with the Chair's agenda, even with the accompanying statement that compliance with the Treaty means compliance with all provisions of the Treaty. Iran said that "If the phrase 'all provisions' is added" to the agenda, it would "refrain from further amendment." When Amano opened the floor, Germany indicated that the EU wished to adopt the agenda "as is, with the understanding that [the Chair] read out." Canada said it did not think the proposed amendment was sincere, and called it a superfluous distraction from the PrepCom's purpose. Venezuela and Syria supported the amendment.

During the ensuing discussion, Canada and Australia also tried to move forward with option 3, continuing discussions without an agenda. They both said that continuing consultations on the agenda should not occur at the expense of substantive discussions. Canada, upset that the PrepCom had already squandered 5 sessions of the annual gathering, suggested that they move forward initially by introducing working papers and discussing them. However, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Cuba reminded the PrepCom that NAM could not start to discuss substantive issues without an agenda.

South Africa then jumped into the fray, and introduced a new option: that the PrepCom, not the Chair, "decides that it understands the reference in the agenda to 'reaffirming the need for full compliance with the Treaty' to mean that it will consider compliance with all provisions of the Treaty." Unlike all the other options above, there was no opposition to this one, although Iran and Syria requested it in writing to send back to capital. Algeria requested clarification on how the decision would relate to the agenda, and called it "an excellent thing" with "several advantages". These advantages include that the "all provisions" understanding would be on record as a decision by the entire PrepCom, that no one currently opposes it, that it could be taken as a vote without putting the agenda to a vote, and that it would enable the PrepCom to finally get down to business.

After all our creative solutions and anticipations, we left on Friday with no more clear an idea of what will happen this week. We need to finally have a substantive meeting on Monday morning, with agreement on the agenda and the timetable for discussions. We are still waiting...."

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UC Student Hunger Strike: No More Nukes In Our Name! - May 9, UC Campuses

Tue, 08 May 2007 06:40:00 GMT

youth@napf.org:

"May 9th will see the beginning of a hunger strike to demand that the University of California stop engineering, testing and manufacturing nuclear bombs. This bold act of civil resistance is being coordinated by students and community members across multiple UC campuses. Some of us have pledged to go without solid food - permanently, if necessary -- unless our demand is met!

The hunger strikers' basic position is this: At this critical time in our world, with the survival of our planetary ecosystem hanging in the balance, it is imperative for the UC Regents to stop providing a fig leaf of academic respectability to the creation of the world's most toxic and deadly weapons, and instead use their position of political leverage to spur the US toward genuine nuclear disarmament, democratization, and demilitarization...."

websites with more information:

http://nonukeshungerstrike.blogspot.com

http://ucnuclearfree.org

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Tuesday, May 8, 2007 (No.7)

Tue, 08 May 2007 14:40:00 GMT

The Reaching Critical Will Team:

"It is past time for governments to get on with it. To set a positive example, we are publishing our preliminary substantive analysis of interesting working papers here*. Discussion is arranged by theme throughout the issue, and interspersed with articles. For those concerned about the status of procedural wrangling, please see NIR issue 5, "Today's Menu", as those options and positions have largely remained the same. In the two five-minute-long sessions today, there was no agreement on the new South African proposal from Friday afternoon (see NIR issue 6, "Actively Waiting"). We hope governments are arriving this morning ready, willing, and able to do what we are doing now.

*We have only included analysis of working papers that have either been distributed by the secretariat or handed directly to us.

Nuclear Disarmament

To date, three working papers address nuclear disarmament in-depth: the New Agenda Coalition's working paper (NPT/ CONF.2010/ PC.I/WP.15), the Non-Aligned Movement's "Nuclear Disarmament" working paper (WP.8), and Japan's "comprehensive" working paper. The New Agenda Coalition, which brought us the 13 practical steps towards nuclear disarmament in 2000, also lays out the task for this review cycle: "to identify and address particular aspects on which incremental progress is necessary, and should be made, with a view to advancing towards the objective of a nuclear weapon free world."

The NAC insists that transparency, verification and irreversibility be applied to all disarmament measures. Japan and the NAM call for irreversibility and increased transparency in nuclear weapons reductions and disarmament.

All three working papers recognize the importance of the 2000 Review Conference's disarmament measures, which the NAC says set out "the agreed process for systematic and progressive efforts towards nuclear disarmament." Even though nuclear weapon states might not like the commitments they made in 2000, trying to ignore them undermines all future work to implement the Treaty's disarmament and non-proliferation objectives. For if states cannot trust that the agreements they make today will be upheld tomorrow, then one wonders what we are all doing here. Japan calls for governments "to faithfully make progress in implementing" the 2000 disarmament measures, while the NAC calls their implementation "imperative." The NAM reiterated its call for "a full implementation of the unequivocal undertaking given by the nuclear-weapon States at the 2000 Review Conference." The NAM further specifies that this "should be demonstrated without delay through an accelerated process of negotiations and through the full implementation of the 13 practical steps to advance systematically and progressively towards a nuclear weapon free world as agreed to at the 2000 Review Conference."

Japan and the NAC both call for the nuclear weapon states to reduce the operational status of nuclear weapon. The NAC says nuclear weapon states must "remove the launch-on-warning option from their security doctrines by agreeing on reciprocal steps to take their nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert." We agree that although this is no substitute for irreversible disarmament, it would certainly help us breathe a bit easier in the short term.

All three working papers also discuss nuclear doctrines and threshold for use. The NAC says states "must not adopt doctrines or systems that blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional weapons, or lower the nuclear threshold." Japan says "[t]he threshold for use of nuclear weapons must be kept as high as possible." Japan also reaffirmed "the necessity of a diminishing role for nuclear weapons in security policies", while the NAM says that "lack of progress in diminishing the role of nuclear weapons in security policies further undermine[s] disarmament commitments." Nuclear doctrines are central to nuclear disarmament. Nuclear weapon states should implement the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission's recommendation to begin planning for security without nuclear weapons.

The NAM and the NAC also criticize the development of new nuclear weapons. According to the NAC, "[s]tates should not develop new nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons with new military capabilities or for new missions, or the replacement or modernization of their nuclear-weapon systems." All the nuclear weapon states are currently developing new nuclear weapons and/or systems, or modernizing current systems. Some are doing so faster and more comprehensively than others.

The NAC calls on the US and Russia "to show leadership in the nuclear disarmament process by extending START, upgrading SORT to include verification and negotiating further reductions including destruction of warheads and to include tactical nuclear weapons in future negotiations." Japan encourages the US and Russia to "fully implement" SORT "and to undertake nuclear weapons reductions beyond those provided for by the Treaty." The NAM notes that reductions in deployments cannot replace irreversible cuts and the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Japan also encourages the other nuclear weapon states to reduce their nuclear arsenals, without waiting for the US and Russia.

Costa Rica submitted a working paper containing a model nuclear weapons convention, discussed in another article. The NAC notes that "a nuclear weapon free world will ultimately require the underpinning of a universal and multilaterally negotiated legally binding instrument or a framework encompassing mutually reinforcing sets of instruments." The NAM reiterates its call for "[t]he negotiation of a phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons with a specified time frame, including a nuclear weapons convention."

Institution Building

Contrary to the seventh Review Cycle of the NPT, few working papers have been distributed thus far that relate to strengthening the institutional capacity for the NPT. Perhaps in the fifteen or so additional working papers that have been submitted but not yet distributed, these issues will be raised more significantly. In the papers that have been circulated, there have been a number of references to better reporting (as called for in Step 12 of the 13 Practical Steps agreed in the 2000 Final Document), the Conference on Disarmament, and significant institutional suggestions in the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention.

The Non Aligned Movement (NAM) paper on "procedural and other arrangements" (NPT/CONF.2010/ PC.I/WP.6) recommends that the current policies and intentions of the nuclear weapons states should be included in addition to the "specific and complete" reporting on issues and principles called for in the 13 steps. Japan's comprehensive working paper also calls for States parties to submit reports on their disarmament obligations that are "as detailed as possible". Egypt's working paper (WP.14) also suggests that states develop reporting mechanisms "in accordance with guidelines to be agreed between member states" that would allow "effective scrutiny of measures taken by each state to secure its full compliance with all treaty articles and steps taken by each to achieve treaty universality". Japan's comprehensive working paper also calls for more detailed reports by states parties.

The NAM also suggests that new institutions of the Treaty would further strengthen or enhance the review process, though they do not detail what these new institutions could or should be. It is possible that they are referring to the Canada's 2005 review cycle proposal on creating a standing body for the NPT (NPT/CONF.2005/PC.III/WP.1).

In the working paper submitted by Costa Rica on a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention (WP.17), there are numerous references to building relevant and needed institutions during the process of agreeing to either a nuclear weapons or a framework convention, either in a single convention or a package of agreements. The MNWC envisages an agency, comprised of a Conference of States Parties, an Executive Council and a Technical Secretariat. The responsibilities would include verification, ensuring compliance, and decision-making. The working paper also includes suggestions on financing such an agency, as well as processes related to dispute settlement that incorporate the International Court of Justice.

As noted by the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, the NPT has the weakest institutional capacity for implementation of all the disarmament treaties, even though it is the most important. Governments need to strengthen this capacity during this review cycle...."

PLEASE NOTE: The in the text mentioned working papers can be found at: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/prepcom07/papers.html and of later date here: http://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/legal/npt/nptindex1.html

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Wednesday, May 9, 2007 (No.8)

Wed, 09 May 2007 17:30:00 GMT

Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will:

"We Have a PrepCom

PrepCom participants appeared fairly surprised yesterday morning when Iran, after a long-winded statement that sounded like an explanation for blocking the agenda, suddenly said it "had the honor to announce" it could agree to the agenda and South Africa's proposal from Friday. The Conference then agreed to the agenda, the understanding that "compliance with the Treaty" means with all provisions of the Treaty, and to proceed with the indicative timetable. Then, instead of packing our bags and heading home, we proceeded to substantive debate on Cluster 1 issues yesterday afternoon.

The morning session was not without its fireworks, of course. Iran did not accept the South African proposal as it was, but amended it so that there is an explicit connection between the understanding of the "compliance" phrase and the agenda (via a familiar asterisk). Chairman Amano nearly complicated the matter by separating the amendment from the proposal before South Africa welcomed it, clarified it, and no one objected. The ordinarily subdued Japanese Chair showed frustration and even gave a rebuttal to the attacks delivered in Iran's "acceptance speech", citing dates and occasions of his consultations on the agenda.

By the end of the day, however, we found ourselves settling into meeting mode. The PrepCom spent the afternoon buzzing through 26 statements on Cluster 1, which is generally understood as the nuclear disarmament cluster. Chairman Amano had requested states to keep to five minutes or less, and a number of delegations shortened their delivered statements while circulating longer written statements. Governments across the political spectrum reaffirmed their commitment to the outcomes of the 1995 and 2000 review conferences. Egypt reminded the PrepCom that the indefinite extension of the NPT was largely agreed to because of the resolution calling for a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East. Canada articulated the general understanding of the international community that the 13 practical steps towards nuclear disarmament from 2000 are the objective benchmarks by which to measure compliance with Article VI of the Treaty. The New Agenda Coalition noted that these steps are the agreed process for systematic nuclear disarmament.

States also highlighted various steps of the 13 practical steps, and commented on their implementation. It was regularly noted that the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty has not entered into force, and a treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons has not been negotiated. Governments also called for further verified treaty-based reductions from the US and Russia, and, while noting what has been done, generally assessed that it has not been enough. Many states also called for a diminished role for nuclear weapons in security doctrines, and noted concern about new military doctrines with expanded scenarios for nuclear use, and the development of new nuclear weapons. States called for the nuclear weapon states to de-alert their nuclear weapons, reducing the immediate risks of accidental nuclear war.

Governments also reaffirmed the importance of transparency, irreversibility, and verification in disarmament measures. Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, Australia, and Iran supported submitting regular reports on the implementation of Article VI, as called for in step 12 of the 13 steps. Canada gave details on what this reporting might look like, while Brazil suggested the Secretariat make a chart of disarmament measures based on statements delivered by the nuclear weapon states, which Canada supported. Because Reaching Critical Will also believes such reporting is necessary for the international community to monitor Article VI implementation, we produce a Model Nuclear Inventory for each NPT meeting. (Please see the RCW team to get your delegation's copy.) States Parties should make such reporting and monitoring a feature of the review process.

Although we do not have much time left at this PrepCom, we do have a great deal of substance. After 26 statements impressively delivered almost entirely within the five-minute time limit set by the Chair, there were a couple minutes left for "interactive debate". This morning, governments will focus on nuclear disarmament and security assurances, and will hopefully have more time for discussion. Leaving the chamber, participants could be seen bewilderedly muttering, "We have a PrepCom. A late PrepCom, a short PrepCom, but a PrepCom."...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Thursday, May 10, 2007 (No.9)

Sat, 12 May 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Jennifer Nordstrom, Reaching Critical Will:

"Power Politics or Cooperative Security?

The second day of substance built on the original non-proliferation for disarmament bargain of the Treaty, balancing the goals of the nuclear weapon states and the non-nuclear weapon states. In the morning session, governments focused on nuclear disarmament and security assurances (Specific Issues), and in the afternoon, they discussed non-proliferation and nuclear weapon free zones (Cluster 2). In reviewing this bargain, some states simply sought to maximize national interests, trying to gain as much as possible while giving as little as possible. However, many states sought to enhance global security, recognizing that we need full implementation of and compliance with all the obligations in this Treaty.

Despite disagreement and a continued need to negotiate, it was a remarkably constructive and engaged day of discussion. There was even an opportunity for interactive dialogue during the morning session, which several governments used to react to and build on other governments' ideas-a valuable thing in a forum designed to build consensus currently operating under such time constraints.

The nuclear disarmament discussions hit hard on the 1995 and 2000 agreements again, which contain practical steps for implementing nuclear disarmament. Many governments called for better reporting on nuclear disarmament implementation. Canada, New Zealand, and Mexico supported Brazil's proposal that the Secretariat compile a chart of nuclear disarmament measures taken, based on statements delivered by the nuclear weapon states at the PrepCom. New Zealand suggested creating a similar report to assess progress against the benchmarks from 1995 and 2000. Non-nuclear weapon states also posed questions to the nuclear weapon states, and asked them to reflect and respond.

Non-nuclear weapon states called for assurances from the weapon states that nuclear weapons would not be used, or threatened to be used, against them. Since the inception of the Treaty, non-nuclear weapon states have sought these "negative security assurances" (NSAs), but the nuclear weapon states have been loathe to give them. The Non-Aligned Movement made its regular call for "universal, unconditional, legally-binding" NSAs, and nuclear weapon states again insisted that the assurances they have given in the past are sufficient. Many states discussed how security assurances could become part of the NPT package. States should determine the form of NSAs and their relationship to the Treaty in this review cycle. South Africa reminded states that the New Agenda Coalition submitted a working paper exploring these ideas to the 2003 PrepCom. Italy's working paper suggests states do a survey of which states have security assurances now (via nuclear weapon free zone treaties) and which states could be eligible for such assurances.

In the afternoon session on non-proliferation, there was broad support for universalizing the comprehensive safeguards regime. A number of states supported using the 1997 Model Additional Protocol with a safeguards agreement as the "new verification standard". Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Norway said the Additional Protocol should be a condition for supply of nuclear exports. The Non Aligned Movement opposed any additional legal requirements, restrictions, or burdens on non-nuclear weapon states, while the United States argued at length about the primacy of the Treaty's "core" non-proliferation obligations and compliance with them.

Compliance with the Treaty is of course of the utmost importance, despite its inherent difficulties. Assessing compliance by consensus is rather difficult when the states being assessed are part of the consensus process. Independent technical verification is thus crucial to ensuring collective security, and avoiding discrimination. In this regard, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, the Non Aligned Movement and Cuba identified the International Atomic Energy Agency as the authority in assessing compliance with the NPT's non-proliferation obligations.

However, there is no equivalent independent technical authority for assessing compliance with disarmament obligations. States parties continue to assert the 13 practical steps as the benchmarks for assessing compliance with disarmament, but they are doing so with the very states whose compliance they are assessing. Who assesses the compliance of the nuclear weapon states? What are the consequences of non-compliance? Assessments of non-compliance with non-proliferation obligations have serious consequences, implicitly recognized by New Zealand's statement that it had a "strong preference" that the conflict over Iran's nuclear programme be resolved peacefully. In such a world, independent, technical verification of agreed standards of compliance with all the obligations of the Treaty is necessary. By doing this, the Treaty works an instrument of collective security, and not a theatre for power politics.

Appropriately, Dr. Hans Blix, Chair of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, spoke about cooperative security in between the morning and afternoon sessions. He explained that after the failure of the Iraq war to resolve weapons of mass destruction issues that did not exist, the international community needs to return to a framework of cooperation to deal with these issues. We agree. Playing security as a zero-sum game means we all lose. States need to act with enlightened self-interest -working for collective security is in the interest of humanity, a club to which we all belong...."

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NPT-PrepCom 2007 News in Review - Friday, May 11, 2007 (No.10)

Sat, 12 May 2007 09:15:00 GMT

Ray Acheson, Reaching Critical Will:

"Shades of Grey

Yesterday, governments tackled two of the most contentious contemporary political issues: the Middle East and nuclear energy. The tone was largely diplomatic, and delegations even engaged in some interactive debate during the morning session. Yet, observing from the corner, one has the sense that states are not hearing each other. There are many diverse, nuanced, fluctuating views about these two subjects, dependent on changing political, economic, environmental, and social factors. The debate here at the PrepCom, however, is largely stationary - there is a lack of acknowledgment of each other's perspectives, and a lack of flexibility in reexamining one's own position or understandings.

The main focus of the morning session was the implementation of the 1995 Middle East resolution, which calls for the establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone (NWFZ) in the region. Many states recalled that the resolution was an integral part of the decision to indefinitely extend the NPT in 1995, and lamented that it has not yet been realized, despite the 2000 Review Conference's affirmation that the resolution is still valid.

In determining why progress has stalled, most states pointed to the political environment in the Middle East, and the lack of determination by the nuclear weapon states to decisively participate in changing this environment. Israel's nuclear weapon programme was frequently indicated as the number one impediment to a NWFZ in the region, and many states called for Israel's immediate accession to the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state and to the IAEA's comprehensive safeguards agreements. Some states also called for NPT member states to cease all nuclear cooperation with Israel, arguing that double standards are being applied in the region. In Libya's words, some states are "judging small creatures" while elephants act aggressively with the support of a gang.

The US argued that Iran's alleged violations of its safeguards agreements were responsible for holding up the creation of Middle East NWFZ and the universalization of the NPT. The US delegate said, "We cannot hope to attract new parties to the Treaty if the non-proliferation assurances offered by the Treaty are not seen to be credible."

Other states had very different perceptions of actions that undermine the Treaty. Some states questioned how the proposed US-India deal will affect the non-proliferation regime. For example, Canada said it wants "to ensure that any developments in this regard do not weaken the international non-proliferation and disarmament regime, and recall the positions already taken by the NPT membership regarding conditions of supply to non-nuclear weapon states." NGOs have also invited the US to explain to the PrepCom how the US-India deal is in compliance with NPT. Other states argued that the failure to implement the Middle East resolution undermines the NPT, as it indicates a bias in implementing some of the Treaty's provisions over others, and encourages further nuclear proliferation in the region.

States also disagree about how to implement the Middle East resolution. While the US argues that "progress toward [a Middle East NWFZ] requires progress toward a political and security environment in the Middle East that is conducive to creating this condition," many other states, including South Africa, the Republic of Korea, Cuba, and Malaysia, believe that the establishment of a NWFZ in the Middle East would help create an atmosphere conducive to sustainable peace in the region. As South Africa said, "the possession of nuclear weapons provides only an illusion of security for those who posses, but in reality it only serves to increase insecurity."

This discord of perceptions continued in the afternoon session, when delegates discussed the "peaceful" uses of nuclear energy. In WILPF's perspective, New Zealand correctly posited that "nuclear power is not compatible with the concept of sustainable development, given the long term costs, both financial and ecological, of nuclear waste and the risk of nuclear proliferation." In contrast, France described nuclear power as "protective of the environment". New Zealand has rejected nuclear energy for itself, while France profits from the sale of nuclear technology. South Africa, unfortunately, announced it is aiming to restart fuel cycle activities, while Jordan mentioned it is planning to begin a nuclear energy programme. Most other states remained silent on this issue.

Some delegations argued that "non-compliance with non-proliferation commitments" voided NPT member states' "inalienable right" to nuclear technology. Others expressed concern that there is an emphasis on non-proliferation at the expense of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, at a time when many developing countries are hoping nuclear power will supply their growing populations and industries with energy. These states called for a balance among the three pillars of the NPT. Malaysia even pointed out that the tern non-proliferation non-compliance "does not appear in that form, at all, in the text of the NPT."

Similarly, some states argued that multilateral controls of the fuel cycle would discourage proliferation, while others pointed out such controls would be in violation of Article IV of the NPT, which affords member states the right to develop, research, and produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In the end, both sessions revealed important fault lines between nuclear weapon states' and non-nuclear weapon states' positions on the disarmament and non-proliferation regime. The NWS continue to prioritize non-proliferation, while the NNWS believe that the double standards placed on the NNWS and with respect to non-states parties are the true regime-eroding factor.

A fundamental discord of perception lies at the root of the current impasse in the disarmament and non-proliferation regime. It is apparent in questions of reductions versus elimination, rights versus obligations, security first versus disarmament first, or Iran versus Israel - we are all looking at the same situation, but are some are seeing it black and others white. We all need a little more grey...."

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Indo-US Nuclear 'Deal': An American View

Sat, 12 May 2007 10:00:00 GMT

Sharon Squassoni, Special to washingtonpost.com's Think Tank Town:

"Giving an Inch, Taking a Mile

Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon was in Washington last week to save the troubled U.S.-India nuclear deal by which the U.S. would end longstanding restrictions on nuclear cooperation with India. Nonproliferation watchdogs and many countries that do not have nuclear weapons howled over this radical jettisoning of rules established to reward states that signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Months after Congress blessed the concept, negotiations have stalled on at least two major sticking points: India desires advance consent to extract plutonium from reactor fuel that would be provided by the U.S. and other foreign suppliers and opposes any cutoff in cooperation should it test a nuclear device again.

These are not merely technical details. The Republican-controlled Congress of last year insisted that the plutonium reprocessing and nuclear testing conditions were necessary to maintain the integrity of U.S. and international nonproliferation policies. It would be irresponsible for a Democratic-controlled Congress now to allow these provisions to be negotiated away.

Providing long-term consent to reprocess spent fuel from reactors would undermine the current U.S. policy of not encouraging the use of plutonium and highly enriched uranium in the civilian nuclear fuel cycle, particularly in breeder reactors (which can make more plutonium than they burn up). Allowing India to test again without risking foreign nuclear cooperation would severely undermine global nonproliferation....

Comment by Sukla Sen suklasen@yahoo.com:

"What the article does not mention is that the 'deal' in its very essence is an act of gross unilateralism on the part of the US and a frontal assault on the NPT regime of which it is meant to be the major underwriter. Rewarding a delinquent State precisely for its act of delinquency cannot but have serious negative cascading effects all around and grievously undermine the whatever moral basis of the current nonproliferation-cum-disarmament regime."...."

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NPT-Prepcom 2007 -- Iran, NAM states force downgrading of atom talks text

Sat, 12 May 2007 10:50:00 GMT

Reuters at news.yahoo.com:

"Reuters - Iran and other developing nations on Friday forced a downgrading of the final statement on a review of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, objecting to what they called "imbalance" in a messy end to the meeting...."

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Can Europe End the Lose-Lose Game with Iran?

Sat, 12 May 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Trita Parsi at IPS:

"WASHINGTON, May 10 (IPS) - As the world powers gather in Berlin this week to discuss new punitive measures against Iran's nuclear programme, Europe is faced with a daunting task.

On the one hand, it must remain tough and steadfast against Iran's defiance of two U.N. Security Council Resolutions. On the other hand, it must redefine suspension of enrichment in order to kick-start much needed negotiations and end the current lose-lose game being played between the West and Iran.

Back in the summer of 2006, European diplomats feared that escalation in the Security Council would aggravate the Iranian nuclear stand-off and render a solution more difficult. These fears have now been realised, as Iran has defied two Chapter VII U.N. Security Council Resolutions demanding that it suspend its uranium enrichment programme, and retaliated by scaling down its cooperation with the IAEA.... "

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"The evisceration of a disarmament body" by Bob Rigg

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:00:00 GMT

Comment by: Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance:

"The subject of the article of Bob Rigg "The evisceration of a disarmament body" -- "The chemical-weapons convention came into force on 29 April 1997. But the political manipulation of its lead organization makes it hard for Bob Rigg, a former insider, to celebrate" seems to be off topic -- it is not a Nuclear Weapons issue -- but if you take a second look like I did, you realize it is not!

We, within Abolition 2000, are working towards a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC), which after signing and ratification and entry into force of the NWC could run into the same troubled waters as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is in the last couple of years. At least that is what Bob Rigg fears....

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Canada must help alleviate rising U.S.-Russian tensions, says Pugwash Group

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:10:00 GMT

The Canadian Pugwash Group:

"Canada must help alleviate rising U.S.-Russian tensions, says Pugwash Group

(Toronto) The Canadian Pugwash Group says that Canada should play a lead role in repairing the unravelling U.S.-Russian relationship by addressing NATO's outdated nuclear policies.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Moscow today to meet with President Putin and others amid escalating East-West tensions. AP quoted Ms. Rice as describing the moment as "not an easy" time in Russia-U.S. relations, adding that she said the tensions do not amount to a new Cold War. But according to AFP, Russia's Kommersant newspaper wrote on Monday that Moscow and Washington have lost all trust and now see each other as a threat.

The Canadian Pugwash Group, a distinguished group of scientists and diplomatic experts, has urged Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay to take steps to alleviate tensions between NATO and Russia, beginning by dealing with NATO's nuclear weapons policy...."

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Universities Vs. Weapons of Mass Destruction - Part 2

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:20:00 GMT

www.faslane365.org:

"Universities Vs. Weapons of Mass Destruction - Part 2

NOT JUST AN ACADEMIC EXERCISE:

The 2nd Faslane International Academic Blockade _and_ Conference (FAB Conference) will provide a forum for presenting and discussing papers focused on the impacts of, and alternatives to, the nuclear state. In particular it will focus on the academic arguments against Blair's proposed 'son of Trident' which it is estimated will cost the UK 76 billion Pounds by 2030, equivalent to the cost of bringing our CO2 emissions down by 60% over the same period...."

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Nuclear War Play

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:30:00 GMT

Nina Berman, AlterNet:

"Nuclear War Play

Replete with fake blood and hired nuclear fallout victim actors, the Pentagon is in the midst of simulating one of the largest nuclear detonation exercises ever...."

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More lies from Livermore nuclear weapons lab

Tue, 15 May 2007 20:40:00 GMT

Bob Nichols at www.sfbayview.com:

"San Francisco - "Hundreds of thousands of additional deaths and maimings is the Bay Area's thanks for being good neighbors to these the 'good Germans,' the desk murderers, who are just following orders," stated Pat Gray, long time San Francisco Bay Area resident and former Green candidate for Congress.

"A group of citizens of the Bay Area are seeking a lawyer to take legal action to stop the open air explosions set off by Livermore Lab in Tracy, California," she announced. "These open air explosions are sending clouds of depleted uranium oxide gas all over the Bay Area. It is well know that depleted uranium gas is a carcinogen and causes serious birth defects."

"Our nation has signed a treaty to stop doing nuclear explosions in the open air - but this is what Livermore Lab is doing and has been for the last 46 years. Now they have the hubris to request permission to increase the number of explosions. We hope that with legal assistance we can force the testing to be done underground."..."

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No More Nukes in Our Name --- Student Hunger Strike --- The Regents Meeting

Fri, 18 May 2007 19:40:00 GMT

Jedidjah de Vries, Outreach Director, Tri-Valley CAREs:

"The Regents Meeting

The regents' meeting began at 8 with an announcement. Because so many people had signed up to speak during the public comments period the regents elected to extend the time alloted from 20 minutes to a full half hour. Despite the extra 10 minutes not even close to everyone had the opportunity to have their voice heard. A number of the hunger strikers - for whom this was the ninth day without food - spoke out, as well as many supporters, including Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation, Professor Charles Schwartz of UC Berkeley and representatives from Physicians for Social Responsibility...."

The rest of the blog and blog archive --- No More Nukes in Our Name --- Student Hunger Strike

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ANOTHER AEGIS "CHRISTENING"

Fri, 18 May 2007 19:50:00 GMT

Bruce K. Gagnon, Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons + Nuclear Power in Space:

"You'd think that Jesus Christ himself was going to be in Bath, Maine on Saturday morning. The Navy, and Bath Iron Works, will be holding another "christening" of an Aegis destroyer. Funny how I have a hard time reconciling the words Christ and destroyer but I know that I am just "old school"...."

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Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security?

Fri, 18 May 2007 20:00:00 GMT

WMDC at www.wmdreport.org:

"Nuclear Disorder or Cooperative Security?, A Civil Society Assessment of the Final Report of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, May 2007..."

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Your Affirmation of Nuclear Freedom.

Sat, 19 May 2007 21:00:00 GMT

George Farebrother, Secretary World Court Project UK:

"World Court Project UK invites you to sign an Affirmation of Nuclear Freedom. Nuclear weapons do not make us secure. On the contrary, they are about insecurity, doubt and fear. Opinion polls show that most people want to live in a world free from the nuclear threat...."

You will be able to sign on online in diverse languages.

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Science cheerleaders shout out for global strike weapons

Sat, 19 May 2007 21:10:00 GMT

Andrew Lichterman at DisarmamentActivist.org:

"On May 11, a National Academy of Sciences panel issued an interim letter report on equipping Trident submarine launched ballistic missiles with conventional warheads. ArmsControlWonk.com provides an easy to download copy of the report here.

Congress requested that the NAS provide an analysis of conventional Trident in the conference report accompanying the 2007 Defense Appropriations Act. A final report from the NAS committee is scheduled to be issued in 2008. The reports are not limited to the conventional Trident proposal, but will "consider and recommend alternatives that meet the prompt global strike mission in the near-, mid-, and long-term." The NAS panel recommended that research and testing of the conventional Trident should proceed with funding levels sufficient to keep the program on course to allow deployment in three to five years. It advised against full funding for production and deployment, because other " global strike" technologies also being researched may prove more promising in the long run, and because various technical and policy issues, including the danger that a conventional Trident might be mistaken for a nuclear launch, remain unresolved...."

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The University Should Not Play a Part in the Production of Nuclear Weapons

Tue, 22 May 2007 06:30:00 GMT

Will Parrish in the Daily Californian:

"For over six decades, the University of California has been the United States government's primary nuclear weapons research and design contractor. It has managed the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons compounds since their inceptions. Scientists at these laboratories-UC employees, all-have designed every nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal, of which there have been 65 designated types. UC nuclear weaponeers have also carried out close to every U.S. nuclear weapons test detonation since the dawn of the Nuclear Age, of which the official tally is 1,054.

The fealty of the UC Board of Regents to the nuclear industry is such that, during Fiscal Year 2005-06, the UC received almost as much money from the Department of Energy to conduct nuclear weapons programs ($2.76 billion) as it received from the State of California for education ($2.85 billion).

On May 9, 41 UC students, alumni and faculty members began a hunger strike to demand that the UC retract its management of the Los Alamos and Livermore labs. The hunger strike marks a new approach for a student-driven UC labs severance campaign that has taken place for the past five years. Individuals at four campuses-Berkeley, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Santa Barbara-are part of the hunger strike roster. They are being joined by one "solidarity faster" in Albuquerque.

This bold act of civil resistance comes at a critical time. In March, the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Council, an interagency committee of executives from the Departments of Defense and Energy, announced that the UC's Livermore facility would develop a new hydrogen bomb. Officially, this is to be the first new U.S. nuclear weapon since the end of the Cold War. Los Alamos is slated to manufacture the plutonium bomb cores, or "pits," for these weapons...."

The blog and blog archive --- No More Nukes in Our Name --- Student Hunger Strike

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Another Contrived Missile Defense Intercept Test Planned For May 24

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:30:00 GMT

Union of Concerned Scientists, contact Aaron Huertas, 202-331-5458:

"....Given that the system is still in early stages of research and development, the tests are highly scripted and artificial, Wright said. There has been only one successful intercept test of the ground-based system since October 2002. And the upcoming test is only the second one to use the interceptor booster that is intended to be part of a deployed system.

The purpose of the tests is to develop a system that can guide a "kill vehicle" to collide with an identifiable target warhead. But, Wright pointed out, accomplishing this difficult technical step does not address the biggest challenge a working defense would have to face: decoys. The test slated for tomorrow will include no decoys or other countermeasures that would keep the system from identifying which object it should intercept...."

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Global Warming -- Common Sense Solution #2: Modernize America's Electricity System

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:40:00 GMT

Union of Concerned Scientists:

"More than half of America's electricity is produced from outdated, coal-burning power plants that dump pollutants and heat-trapping gases into our atmosphere. In fact, power plants are the single largest source of CO2-one-third of the U.S. total.

However, cost effective, clean energy sources do exist. By increasing our use of clean renewable energy, investing in energy efficiency, and reducing pollution from fossil fuel plants we can save money for consumers, reduce heat-trapping emissions, and lessen the need for new coal or gas power plants.

A study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that we could reduce power plant CO2 emissions by 60 percent compared with government forecasts for 2020. Consumers would save a total of 440 billion Dollar-reaching 350 Dollar annually per family by 2020...."

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DOD Stands Up Joint Space Office

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:50:00 GMT

Staff Writers at SpaceWar.com:

"The Department of Defense stood up the joint service Operationally Responsive Space Office in a ceremony May 21 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The ORS Office will be responsible for integrating joint ORS capabilities and for applying ORS resources to the development, acquisition and demonstration of capabilities to meet specific responsive space needs as established by global combatant command joint force commanders and users...."

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No uranium for India: Macfarlane

Thu, 24 May 2007 13:55:00 GMT

Katharine Murphy at theage.com.au:

"AUSTRALIA will not sell uranium to India until it signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane has said...."

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Exit From Iraq Should Be Through Iran

Tue, 29 May 2007 23:00:00 GMT

William E. Odom, YaleGlobal:

"Linking forces with Iran could minimize the costs of withdrawal from Iraq...."

Comment YaleGlobal:

"The US Congress and the White House have been at odds over the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq for months, but brief historical reflection suggests that the only option left for Washington is to link forces with Iran. Starting in the mid-1950s, the US maintained stability in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf by establishing bilateral relationships with Israel, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and preventing any one country from overwhelming another. Even after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, presidents recognized that restoring ties with Tehran could minimize US military costs. George W. Bush, however, disrupted the delicate balance with the invasion of Iraq. Unless the US can convince Iran to play a cooperative role, the chaos in Iraq will spread to neighboring countries. In this article, William Odom, a former director of the US National Security Agency, contends that a rapprochement with Iran is the key to restoring regional stability as the US withdraws from Iraq. However, the US must follow up on Monday's meeting with Iran in Baghdad and abandon its current "all sticks" policy for stopping Tehran's nuclear-weapons program. Iran cannot help but realize that its influence in Iraq faces limits when US troops leave, and Washington must take advantage of many mutual goals to establish a sustainable relationship with Iran and restore stability throughout the Middle East."

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Russia Resists Missile Defense Plan

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:40:00 GMT

ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer in the Guardian:

"POTSDAM, Germany (AP) - Russia's top diplomat accused the United States of launching a new arms race as the two nations traded barbs Wednesday over U.S. plans to erect a missile defense system in countries formally under Moscow's influence...."

Comment by Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance:

"Although Russia has warned the US and NATO a great number of times that the deployment of the forwarded part of the US missile defense system in Europe was and is not acceptable for them and would have serious consequences in their relationship with Europe, the US and NATO and would meet an military answer, the US, Europe and NATO partners went forward with the deployment of the system in Europe.

What in heavens name do the US, Europe and NATO wish for their Future. Their posture, politics and deployment of the shield is forcing Russia in defense. An arms race could be the result the least, but a new cold war is also to be seen on the horizon. And this all is the result of 10 stupid interceptor missiles....!!!!

Again I feel hostage of a Politics I did not wish and asked for !!!!!"

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Russia tests missile to penetrate U.S. shield

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:45:00 GMT

The Associated Press in the International Herald Tribune:

"MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile that it said could break through any antimissile defense system, and President Vladimir Putin stepped up his attacks on the proposed U.S. shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying its deployment in Europe would turn the Continent into "a powder keg."..."

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Cold War II?

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:50:00 GMT

Michael Hirsh in Newsweek:

"Cold War II?

Compared to a decade or so ago, the belief in the messianic power of democracy and markets has reached a new low. Why another face-off between Washington and Moscow isn't as impossible as you might think...."

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Exclusive: Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 22:00:00 GMT

DOUG SAUNDERS in Globe and Mail:

"Thank you America you did it again !!!!!

Dear Putin, is this really necessary ?????

Can it not be dealt with in an other way ?????

What about calling for a Nuclear Weapons Convention ?????"

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance

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G-8 INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN.

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance [GANA]

"Mr. Putin, President of Russia, has given an Interview with Newspaper Journalists from G8 Member Countries.

I will give you two transcripts of the same interview and the reason I am doing this is the fact that the texts are not as identical as one would expect. This can be a matter of translating what has been said into english, but it can also be a matter of interpretation.

So, it is interesting to read both transcripts side by side. And that is exactly what I did.

Here ar the links:

Interview with Newspaper Journalists from G8 Member Countries as found on the President of Russia Official Web Portal: http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/06/04/2149_type82916_132772.shtml

And the: G-8 INTERVIEW WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN in Der Spiegel Online: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,486345,00.html

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China Criticizes US Plan for Missile Shield in Eastern Europe

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:00:00 GMT

Joseph Popiolkowski at VoaNews.com:

"China has voiced its opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Eastern Europe. From Hong Kong, Joseph Popiolkowski reports that the controversial plan is also drawing fire from Russian president Vladimir Putin, who will meet President Bush at this week's G8 summit in Germany.

China made clear Tuesday that it opposes the U.S. plan to put interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic to deter potential missile attacks from so-called rogue states.

At a weekly press briefing, Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said the shield would upset a delicate balance of security among major powers...."

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Update on the highly modified Topol-M or Improved RS-22, SS-24 SCALPEL?

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:30:00 GMT

Charles P. Vick, Senior Analyst, Globalsecurity.org:

"On 29 May 2007 Russia conducted the first reported test of the new RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRV). A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said "the prototype of the new ICBM, RS-24 with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles was launched at 2:20 p.m. [ Moscow time, 10:20 GMT] from a mobile launcher remodeled to test the new ICBM from the Plesetsk test cosmodrome". "The test launch of the RS-24 (ICBM) occurred at 14:20 Moscow time ( 1:20 GMT) at Plesetsk and at the designated time the warheads struck the assigned region at the Kura 'base on Kamchatka," a spokesman for Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces told the news agency Interfax.

The RS-24 missile can be armed with up to 10 warheads, the Defence Ministry told Interfax. Six war heads are carried by the SS-19 Stiletto while 10 warheads are carried by the SS-18 Satan. The spokesman said the RS-24 will replace ICBMs of the previous generations RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) and RS-20 (SS-18 Satan) capable of carrying six and ten warheads respectively. It can also be expected to replace the aged 10 warhead SS-24, Scalpel. It was further stated by the Strategic Rocket Forces spokesman that "It is a genuine new missile but it uses technologies of the Topol-M," according to AFP. This is in order to penetrate any existing anti-ballistic missile system.

Confusing Information Considerations...."

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The Paradox of Missile Defense

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:40:00 GMT

James Carroll at CommonDreams.org:

"One man picked up a club, and the other answered with a stone. A knife was parried with a sword. The shield followed, then the spear, the mace, the longbow, the fortified wall, the catapult, the castle, the cannon. Across eons, every warrior's improvement in defense was followed by a breakthrough in offense, leading to yet new countermeasures, ever more lethal. This ancient offense-defense cycle was made modern by the machine gun and the tank, then by warplanes and anti aircraft guns, and, ultimately, by ballistic missiles and anti ballistic missiles.

In 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara analyzed the structure of this dynamic to argue for a halt to it. "Were we to deploy a heavy ABM system . . . the Soviets would clearly be strongly motivated so to increase their offensive capability as to cancel out our defense advantage." Not only would the mutual escalation, launched in the name of defense, be futile and wasteful, but it would make war more likely rather than less. At the end of his Pentagon tenure, McNamara had arrived at the central paradox of the nuclear age - how defense and offense had taken on opposite meanings, with the former having become the inevitable precursor of the latter. In opposing the deployment of the ABM, the American defense chief was breaking with the oldest pattern of human belligerence...."

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US Missiles in Europe: Beyond Deterrence to First-Strike Threat.

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 19:50:00 GMT

Prof. Francis A. Boyle at globalresearch.ca:

"These European ABMs are an adjunct to the longstanding US policy of nuclear first strike against Russia, as explained in my book "The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence"

By means of a US first strike about 99 procent+ of Russian nuclear forces would be taken out. So Bush Jr. needs ABMs to take care of what remains. And in any event what really matters here is the perception. Namely, the United States Government believes that with the deployment of a facially successful first strike capability, they can move beyond deterrence and into "compellence."...."

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Putin turns tables on Bush with new missile plan

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:00:00 GMT

Tabassum Zakaria and Caren Bohan, Reuters:

"HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin turned the tables on Washington on Thursday by suggesting the United States use a Russian-controlled radar instead of U.S. anti-missile hardware in central Europe.

At a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush during a Group of Eight summit, Putin proposed that the United States and Russia jointly use a radar in Azerbaijan as part of an anti-missile shield that would protect all of Europe.

"We can do this automatically, and hence the whole system which is being built as a result will cover not only part of Europe but the entire Europe without an exception," Putin said.

"This would also ... allow us not to redirect our rockets (to targets in Europe) and, on the contrary, allow us to create conditions for joint work," he said...."

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Russian Offer Of Joint Missile Base Startles US

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:10:00 GMT

Laurent Lozano at SpaceWar.com:

"Heiligendamm, Germany (AFP) Jun 07, 2007

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday offered to set up a joint Russian-US anti-missile base to end a crisis between the two countries as Group of Eight leaders agreed a face-saving compromise on climate change. Putin made the startling proposal for a joint base in Azerbaijan during talks with US President George W. Bush aimed at rescuing bilateral relations from a post-Cold War low...."

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US to press ahead with anti-missile plan

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 12:40:00 GMT

TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent:

"ROME - President Bush signaled Friday the United States will press ahead with a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe despite Russia's heated objections. Poland's president expressed support for installing interceptor rockets in his country...."

"....The administration made clear it was not abandoning plans for a missile-defense program in Poland and the Czech Republic despite a surprise counterproposal Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin to instead use a Soviet-era radar tracking station in Azerbaijan.

Putin had more suggestions on Friday for locations for missile interceptors: "They could be placed in the south, in U.S. NATO allies such as Turkey, or even Iraq," Putin said. "They could also be placed on sea platforms."...."

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Putin's Censored Press Conference: The transcript you weren't supposed to see

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 22:30:00 GMT

Mike Whitney, ICH:

" 06/10/07 "ICH" --- On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an hour and a half-long press conference which was attended by many members of the world media. The contents of that meeting---in which Putin answered all questions concerning nuclear proliferation, human rights, Kosovo, democracy and the present confrontation with the United States over missile defense in Europe---have been completely censored by the press. Apart from one brief excerpt which appeared in a Washington Post editorial, (and which was used to criticize Putin) the press conference has been scrubbed from the public record. It never happened. (Read the entire press conference archived here )

Putin's performance was a tour de force. He fielded all of the questions however misleading or insulting. He was candid and statesmanlike and demonstrated a good understanding of all the main issues...."

Comment Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance [GANA]:

"I have too invited you before to compare the transcript in Der Spiegel, with the one to be found at the Kremlin's official website. The links can be found at: http://www.cornnet.nl/~akmalten/GANA-Nuclear_Weapons_Future-News-feed-archive-2007-Q2.html#G-8_INTERVIEW_WITH_PUTIN-05061

But this article by Mike Whitney does an analysis of the transcript and adds more background information on the issue."

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INDIA-US: Impasse Over Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Rights

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Praful Bidwai in IPS:

"NEW DELHI, Jun 6 (IPS) - High official-level talks between the United States and India to clinch the nuclear cooperation deal initialled in July 2005 have failed to narrow mutual differences and produce an agreement...."

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G8 statement ignores disarmament

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:10:00 GMT

Siddharth Varadarajan at www.hindu.com:

"Notes Indian commitments, 'looks forward' to nuclear partnership

Not one word in declaration on weapons states' obligation to get rid of their arsenals

Heiligendamm statement silent on the new 'Cold War' that is threatening the security of the world...."

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The Climate Change Flap at the G8: A Spat over Detail, not Substance

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:15:00 GMT

Walden Bello at tni.org:

"....A second element is diversification of the means of generating energy. Here the draft pays the obligatory nod to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but the emphasis is on nuclear. Indeed, the G 8 draft goes out of its way to favorably position an energy source long opposed by the environmental movement owing to its proven dangers as a key alternative owing to its allegedly minimal contribution to global warming. Specifically, the draft states that the G 8 leaders "endorse the peaceful use of nuclear energy by those interested countries that are also committed to non-proliferation and international nuclear safety standards...endorse international initiatives to further develop peaceful and carbon-free nuclear energy and to realize the potential for nuclear energy to contribute to the energy needs of developing countries...[and] will examine creative ways for international finance to make nuclear energy more available to developing countries."...."

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Can India please both Iran and the US?

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:20:00 GMT

Achin Vanaik at tni.org:

"India's recent vote against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) apparently under US pressure, indicates that in spite of its wishes, it can't keep good relations with both...."

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ENVIRONMENT-INDIA: Mega Nuclear Plant Hits Popular Opposition

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:30:00 GMT

Praful Bidwai at IPS:

"KOODANKULAM, Tamil Nadu, Jun 11 (IPS) - Even as the Indian government gropes in the dark for a coherent policy on energy and the environment, it is rooting hard for a highly unpopular nuclear power project here, close to the peninsula's southern tip.

The project, which involves building six Russian-designed reactors of 1,000 Mw capacity each, will be India's biggest nuclear power station.

It faces staunch opposition from the local people, many of them fishermen, who fear it will destroy their livelihoods, gravely endanger their safety, and physically uproot thousands of families...."

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US-India Nuclear Deal -- Abolition 2000 Calls on Australia to Oppose US-India Deal

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:30:00 GMT

Philip White, US-India Working Group Coordinator:

"Abolition 2000 Calls on Australia to Oppose US-India Deal

Media Release 28 June 2007

The US-India Working Group of the Abolition 2000 network has called on the Australian government to oppose the US-India nuclear deal in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group of countries (NSG). Abolition 2000 is a global network of over 2000 groups from over 90 countries working for nuclear disarmament.

In separate letters sent today to Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd, the Working Group said, "there is a grave risk that the US-India deal will weaken the non-proliferation regime. In order to prevent this from happening, Australia should demand the following in the NSG:

1. that India agree to stop producing fissile materials;

2. that India join the CTBT;

3. that India accept full-scope safeguards on all its nuclear facilities;

4. that India join the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state."

"Since the NSG works by consensus, each of the 45 NSG member countries must agree to change its rules for nuclear sales to India to be permitted. As an NSG member and as a major uranium exporter, Australia is in a position to exert considerable influence on this issue."

Working Group coordinator, Philip White, said "The Australian government is in a state of confusion over the deal. Prime Minister Howard has been quoted as being supportive of the deal, while Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, has said that Australia will not export uranium to India." The reason given by Mr Macfarlane for not exporting uranium to India was, "We have a prohibition on the basis they have not signed the NPT."...."

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US-India Nuclear Deal -- Letter to Australian government on 28 June 2007 from the Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:40:00 GMT

Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group:

"....Dear Mr. Howard,

The US-India Working Group of the Abolition 2000 network is writing to urge the Australian government to ensure that the US-India nuclear deal does not weaken the nonproliferation regime. Abolition 2000 is a global network of over 2000 groups from over 90 countries working for nuclear disarmament. We are concerned about the implications of this deal for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation for the following reasons:

1. The deal violates the NPT (see analysis in Abolition 2000 Briefing Paper1 distributed to diplomats at the NPT PrepCom in May this year).

2. The deal violates a unanimous 1998 UN Security Council Resolution calling on India and Pakistan "immediately to stop their nuclear weapon development programs, to refrain from weaponization or from the deployment of nuclear weapons, to cease development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and any further production of fissile material for nuclear weapons." Neither India nor Pakistan has complied with this demand. The Resolution also "encourages all States to prevent the export of equipment, materials or technology that could in any way assist programs in India or Pakistan for nuclear weapons."

3. By permitting nuclear trade with India, which developed nuclear weapons outside the framework of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and which has made no commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons, the deal sends precisely the wrong message to countries which might be thinking of developing nuclear weapons themselves. Such countries will conclude that they will not be denied the privileges of nuclear trade for long.

4. The three other countries which remain outside the NPT - Pakistan, Israel and North Korea - will expect the same treatment as India. Israel and Pakistan have already asked for this.

5. The deal puts no pressure on the five officially recognized nuclear weapons states to give up their nuclear weapons. Rather, it effectively recognizes India as a sixth nuclear weapon state...."

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US-India Nuclear Deal -- Letter to Australian opposition on 28 June 2007 from the Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 10:45:00 GMT

Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group:

"....Dear Mr. Rudd,

The US-India Working Group of the Abolition 2000 network is writing to urge the Australian Labor Party to oppose the US-India nuclear deal. Abolition 2000 is a global network of over 2000 groups from over 90 countries working for nuclear disarmament. We are concerned about the implications of this deal for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation for the following reasons:

1. The deal violates the NPT (see analysis in Abolition 2000 Briefing Paper1 distributed to diplomats at the NPT PrepCom in May this year).

2. The deal violates a unanimous 1998 UN Security Council Resolution calling on India and Pakistan "immediately to stop their nuclear weapon development programs, to refrain from weaponization or from the deployment of nuclear weapons, to cease development of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and any further production of fissile material for nuclear weapons." Neither India nor Pakistan has complied with this demand. The Resolution also "encourages all States to prevent the export of equipment, materials or technology that could in any way assist programs in India or Pakistan for nuclear weapons."

3. By permitting nuclear trade with India, which developed nuclear weapons outside the framework of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and which has made no commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons, the deal sends precisely the wrong message to countries which might be thinking of developing nuclear weapons themselves. Such countries will conclude that they will not be denied the privileges of nuclear trade for long.

4. The three other countries which remain outside the NPT - Pakistan, Israel and North Korea - will expect the same treatment as India. Israel and Pakistan have already asked for this.

5. The deal puts no pressure on the five officially recognized nuclear weapons states to give up their nuclear weapons. Rather, it effectively recognizes India as a sixth nuclear weapon state...."

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US-India Nuclear Deal -- Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:00:00 GMT

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance:

"Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group

On 5 May 2007, at Abolition 2000's Annual General Meeting, held in Vienna during the NPT PrepCom, the network decided to establish a working group to campaign on the US-India nuclear deal. This page is a mirror of the working group's website...."

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US-India Nuclear Deal -- Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group Action

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 11:20:00 GMT

Ak Malten, Global Anti-Nuclear Alliance:

"Abolition 2000 US-India Working Group Action

On 5 May 2007, at Abolition 2000's Annual General Meeting, held in Vienna during the NPT PrepCom, the network decided to establish a working group to campaign on the US-India nuclear deal. This page is a mirror of the working group's Actions webpage...."

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