Arms Control Wonk

I was looking at all the pretty components laid out on the table around the IR-2 carbon fiber rotor with a ball bearing on top and thought “It would be great to identify all the parts.” So, I sent a note to Scott Kemp, at Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security, that said, roughly …

In March, the Washington Post printed two stories by Joby Warrick about Olli Heinonen’s briefing to the IAEA Board of Governors on weaponization work in Iran, based on the notes of diplomat who attended. I asked “what else is in those notes?” Well, David Albright and ISIS have published the full text of the notes …

Nothing says “wonkporn” like a centrifuge rotor, especially one made of carbon fiber. Here is how Iraqi nuclear weaponeer Mahdi Obeidi described his “first time” seeing a URENCO TC-11 segment made of carbon fiber. Then he showed us a centrifuge rotor, which surprised me because it was a highly classified object. Roughly the same dimensions …