Yesterday, I blogged about a Mark Hibbs story in Nuclear Fuel about Pakistan’s P4 centrifuge. The P4, Hibbs wrote, was either called SLM or “was based on another centrifuge having that name …” Hibbs seemed a little confused because a URENCO official told him that URENCO’s files didn’t show any centrifuge named “SLM.” Well, that …
Putin Appoints New Defense Minister
by | 2007-02-15 | No Comments
Putin has appointed Anatoly Serdyukov, formerly head of the Federal Tax Service, as Russia’s new Defense Minister. Sergei Ivanov will now assume the post of first deputy prime minister. The same post is also occupied by another very important figure in Russian politics, Dmitry Medvedev. Ivanov and Medvedev are thought to be the top contenders …
P3 and P4 Centrifuge Data
by | 2007-02-15 | 10 Comments
Mark Hibbs has published specifications for Pakistan’s P3 and P4 centrifuges based on “Western government data.” I haven’t seen this anywhere else, so here it is (with rough data on the P1 and P2 for comparison): Desig. Derivation Rotor Velocity (m/s) Length SWU P1 SNOR/CNOR Aluminum 350 1-2 1-3 P2 G2 Maraging Steel 500 1 …
Russia Questions INF, Again
by | 2007-02-14 | 8 Comments
Russian officials have again questioned the future of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty or just INF. In March 2005, Jeffrey blogged about a feeler from Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to then-SECDEF Rumsfeld about possible Russian withdrawal from the INF Treaty. The details of the exchange are not clear, but Jeffrey pointed to reporting in …
