More Iran Stuff
A couple of technical bits about Iran’s nuclear programs, related to whether Iran can make clean hex (maybe not, still) and whether Iran is telling the truth about the source of its plutonium (um, doesn’t look like it). Hex No,…
May 2006
30 posts
It's All Here: US Tables Draft FMCT
Stephen Rademaker (my buddy) has introduced a draft fissile material cut-off treaty at the Conference on Disarmament. Shorter Rademaker: Article 1. States Party undertake to kiss my bony ass. Sadly, this is only vaguely hyperbole. The treaty, as it were,…
de Klerk and Nuclear Weapons
Newsweek published an interview the other day with former South African president F.W. de Klerk. He discussed several topics, including South Africa’s past nuclear weapons program. Asked about the country’s decision to give up its weapons, he said: I wasn’t…
Iranian Centrifuge Developments
Well, some big developments today. Louis Charbonneau at Reuters reports that IAEA samples of equipment from Lavizan-Shian suggest the presence of highly enriched uranium: “Preliminary analysis by the IAEA showed traces of highly enriched uranium in the (pump) samples,” a…
Will Huntington, Bad Man
Yeah, you know why. AWESOME.
Department of Dead Horse Flogging
Treaties can help establish rules for state behavior which, in turn, can foster some degree of transparency and predictability in international relations. But when people just start making stuff up on the fly, it’s more difficult to predict and understand…
National Security Archive Rocks Your Lame Ass
The National Security Archive has released several more items of note during the past few weeks: 1 A collection of documents regarding the Nixon administration’s attempts to grapple with the Israeli nuclear weapons program. 2 A series of documents describing…
The Notorious 7.2.1.
And the frickin’ 721 report for 1 January-31 December 2004 is online. Woo hoo! Thanks Secrecy News! *** I knew the verdict on China’s activities would be relatively positive after Gertz claimed that NIC officials were reworking the report to…
Irresponsible Rumor Mongering
Believe nothing you read here or, at least, don’t blame me for your being a busybody. Why was former Special Assistant to the DCI Charles Duelfer sitting at an al fresco table outside Potbelly’s yesterday at 6:20? asks one loyal…
Nuclear Football
A couple of weeks ago, a reader asked whether a military aide still acompanies the President carrying the “nuclear football”—otherwise known as the presiden’t emergency satchel. I said that I assumed so, but that I hadn’t seen anything in a…