Sweden, South Africa, Taiwan, Brazil, Libya, Kazakhstan and South Korea: countries that built, bought or sought the bomb, and then stopped.
Jeffrey and I have something in common. I’m Swedish. In his youth, Jeffrey went to some Swedish school (Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois). And we’ve both developed an interest in nuclear weapons issues. But what do Madonna and nuclear…
Many things remain unknown about Sweden’s nuclear programme, especially why it was suddenly discontinued. It is interesting to note, of course, that the US intelligence community estimated that Sweden was on its way to the weapon up until 1964. Later…
Yesterday, I attended a meeting with the International Law Association in Brighton, and the Swedish nuclear programme was raised again. It is interesting that so much international attention has been given recently to what, essentially, is a but a side…
There is a new book on South Africa’s Apartheid-era nuclear weapons program by Nic von Wielligh, who participated in the program. Originally published in Afrikaans as Die Bom: Suid-Afrika se Kernwapenprogram, the book is now available in English. (The title…
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…
In the mid-60s, The Green Hornet was a popular TV show. Popular enough for the Taiwanese to apparently name an early ballistic missile after it, the Green Bee (青蜂). Also, did you know Taiwan had its own ballistic missile program? Its anti-ship…
Do you remember THE GREEN BEE? Where we talked about a mysterious Taiwanese ballistic missile that looked a lot like the Lance? Well the research continues and new data has come to light putting the Green Bee firmly on the…
The National Security Archive has released a new electronic briefing book on U.S. opposition to the Taiwanese nuclear program in the 1970’s. As is usual of the Archive’s excellent briefing books, compiled from documents acquired under FOIA and annotated with…
On September 18, 1990, long-held suspicions about Brazil’s nuclear intentions seemed to be officially and dramatically confirmed. Brazil’s first popularly elected President in 29 years, Fernando Collor, on the scene of what his aides suggested was a nuclear test site,…
A couple of weeks ago, Judy Miller made a passing reference to “a ‘Lessons Learned’ paper for an arms-control newsletter” written by Ambassador Donald Mahley, Senior WMD Representative in Libya. I was like, what Lessons Learned paper? So was Kerr.…
A Flash animation or video was embedded here. Flash no longer works in web browsers. I have been sort of amused that one news outlet after another keeps sending reporters to Site F near Sabha, where the Libyans store…
Verse of the week: “Restrained pulse of moaning steppe — With waves of pain and grief. The drops of rain? Crushing seas? Those are mothers’ trembling tears. Here’s a place of whispering spell — Abai. Earth’s bleeding chest. Death’s stealing…
Would South Korea ever build the bomb? Probably not, but there is a constituency in the country that has thought about it. Aaron and Jeffrey discuss South Korea’s nuclear weapon history – and constraints on proliferation. Download this episode(20MB mp3)…
