The last time someone came up with a scheme to square the circle with Iran was back in 2010, and the leading actor was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The “Lavrov Plan” never took off because the U.S. and European powers wouldn’t embrace it, for reasons including differences over how to handle orders to Iran from the United Nations Security Council to suspend uranium enrichment. Since then, other differences between Russia and the West over how to …
More Unha Wreckage
by | 2012-12-28 | 35 Comments
Well, one thing I am not is a rocket scientist. David Wright has a nice review of some of the pieces of debris, though sadly he finished it before several more images (like the engine, above) hit the press. Here are the images, along with an invitation to continue our discussion:
Year-End Review
by | 2012-12-24 | 10 Comments
Shall we label 2012 as The Year of Waiting? The fourth year of a U.S. presidential term is usually marked by the absence of big initiatives and the presence of partisan gridlock. This year was no exception. Compound this with leadership transitions in Russia and China, add extended economic duress in the European Union, and …
Subcritical Experiments
by | 2012-12-20 | 15 Comments
There was a minor dustup on Twitter between my colleague, Jon Wolfsthal, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Like many discussions on Twitter, 140 characters at a time just didn’t get the job done. At issue is an important article that Frank von Hippel wrote proposing transparency surrounding subcritical experiments. Frank’s article was occasioned by a …
