Iran:  IAEA Inspectors Turned Away From Nuclear Site, Leave Iran

U.N nuclear inspectors left Iran yesterday after officials refused them access to a nuclear facility, the Wall Street Journal reported (see GSN, June 9).

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors visited the site in March and again in May, but this time they intended to collect samples to check for nuclear material, according to an IAEA report distributed last week.

The IAEA team discussed the proposed visit with Iranian officials but was rebuffed, according to the Journal.  Iran has announced it wants to build a nuclear enrichment facility for 50,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Inspectors are questioning whether Iran would proceed with building such a facility if, as Tehran claims, the centrifuges have not been fully tested.  If they have been tested by enriching small amounts of uranium, Iran should have notified the IAEA that it was doing so (David Crawford, Wall Street Journal, June 12).

A spokesman from Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization denied that the inspectors were stopped from inspecting any site.

“Based on the IAEA’s letter which was sent to us, they visited all the places that were mentioned in the letter and they left the country based on the schedule which was mentioned in the letter,” Khalil Mousavi said (Reuters, June 12).

The White House wants the IAEA to pressure Iran about its nuclear program but is reportedly not pushing the U.N. nuclear agency to declare Tehran in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.  The United States is hoping the agency will turn out a “devastating” report on Iran’s nuclear program that will spur other countries to censure Iran, the Los Angeles Times reported (Sonni Efron, Los Angeles Times, June 12).

The IAEA report, circulated this week to its board of governors, says Iran has been developing an experimental nuclear fuel program, processing various forms of uranium and not reporting the activity to the IAEA.

“The lack of reporting in this case is considered serious because it shows a consistent pattern and involves steps taken outside of safeguards by Iran to master the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle,” the report says, according to Nucleonics Week.

Iran also moved nuclear material around the country without notifying the agency, according to the report.

Iran processed some uranium tetrafluoride into uranium metal, displaying knowledge of skills needed for nuclear weapons production, and produced some uranium dioxide fuel pellets to test chemical production, the IAEA reported.

Significantly, however, the report never says that Iran enriched uranium outside of NPT safeguards.

Western officials said that Iran has developed uranium enrichment centrifuges that would not have been possible without conducting tests using uranium, Nucleonics Week reported.

Mousavi said that the uranium movement, and earlier revelations of illicit uranium importing, were not reported to the IAEA because of differences over reporting obligations.

Despite Iran’s purported failure to inform the IAEA of its activities, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei is strongly opposed to citing Iran for the alleged infractions, according to sources in Vienna.

Instead, ElBaradei would probably call for additional reports on Iran’s nuclear program in September and again in March 2004 (Mark Hibbs, Nucleonics Week, June 12).

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North Korea:  Low-Level Bilateral Meeting Held Last Week

U.S. and North Korean officials met last week at the United Nations in New York where U.S. envoy Jack Pritchard urged his counterparts to agree to hold formal multilateral talks to resolve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 11).

“At the meeting in New York, Pritchard sounded out (Pyongyang) about five-nation talks that would include Japan and South Korea,” said a source in Tokyo with close ties to North Korea.

Pritchard reportedly suggested a possible direct meeting during the multilateral talks, thus satisfying North Korea’s demand for one-on-one contact with the United States (Teruaki Ueno, Reuters, June 12).

Australia, meanwhile, is engaged in talks with the United States and Japan to hamper North Korean efforts to transfer illegal materials by sea (see related GSN story, today).

“It is a very difficult issue to deal with because international law requires that flagged vessels on the high seas can’t be interdicted except in the most exceptional of circumstances.  So to make a system of interdictions work, you have to have very broad international cooperation,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.  “To impose a blockade on North Korea would require a Security Council resolution, almost certainly.  Though that might happen some way down the track,” he added (Fifield/Ward, Financial Times, June 12).

South Korea, meanwhile, has not been consulted on the talks and media outlets are speculating that a conciliatory attitude to Pyongyang might have kept Seoul out of discussions.

“There has been neither U.S. request for our participation in a blockade nor discussions on this issue,” said Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan.  “I don’t think the U.S. government is moving ahead with the ‘tailored blockade’ policy or economic sanctions against North Korea in dealing with its nuclear problem,” he added (Lim Chang-won, Agence France-Presse, June 12).

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United States:  Air Force Plans Continued Modifications for B-52 Fleet

The U.S. Air Force is planning a series of modifications to the U.S. B-52 bomber fleet that is expected to keep the aircraft in use for at least an additional 40 years, Air Force Times reported this week.

The planned modifications include adding the capability to carry several types of munitions, such as the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the 500-pound Mk-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).  In addition, the service also plans to upgrade the B-52s with improved communication systems, tactical electronic jamming equipment and other equipment, according to Air Force Times.

The airframes of the B-52s also have a number of years of use left, Air Force Times reported.  The Air Force has estimated that B-52s will have to log at least 28,300 hours of flight time before the wings’ upper surfaces start to fail and the bombers become too expensive to maintain.  As of early last month, the B-52 fleet averaged 15,858 flying hours.

The B-52 fleet is a not stranger to modification.  In the past 51 years, the bombers have had their roles changed at least three times, from an initial role as a high-level bomber to a role of low-level intruder, then to one of a standoff cruise missile launcher and now currently it serves as a close-air support bomber, according to Air Force Times.

“In time you modernize (the weapon system) with improved sensors and avionics and weapons, and you can in fact change its character,” said Air Force Secretary James Roche.  “The B-52 is probably the greatest example of that.  It starts out as a penetrating bomber, a nuclear bomber, flying off the deck, rattling everybody’s fillings. … Now we wouldn’t think of flying it low and fast,” Roche said (Lance Bacon, Air Force Times, June 16).

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United States I:  Former Bush Official Advocates Low-Yield Weapon Research

By David Ruppe
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — A former senior Bush administration official yesterday took aim at “antinuclear activists” opposed to an administration initiative to begin researching new low-yield nuclear weapons, saying the critics misunderstand the nature of new global threats facing the United States.

Keith Payne, who last week ended his year and a half of service as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for forces policy, oversaw Pentagon policies on some of the administration’s most controversial defense initiatives, including missile defense, nuclear weapons and the Nuclear Posture Review.

He laid out administration reasoning behind its approach to nuclear deterrence — particularly its interest in research on new, low-yield nuclear weapons — and said critics, intentionally or not, have failed to appreciate the rationale.

“It is hard to find folks less adept at thinking outside the old Cold War box than the U.S. antinuclear crowd.  The world has changed dramatically, but their arguments have not,” he said.

“Nowhere has this inability to engage in ‘newthink’ been more apparent than in the heated response to recent congressional efforts supported by the Bush administration to free up research on precision low-yield nuclear weapons, including those capable of threatening those underground bunkers,” he said, citing Los Angeles Times and Washington Post editorials.

New Threats Described

Payne, who has returned to his former position running the National Institute for Public Policy, said potential U.S. enemies differ from the Cold War-era Soviet Union in that enemy leaders now may not value the welfare of their populations or their own survival, and may make decisions based on superstition or fanaticism.

During the Cold War, he said, “We didn’t consider an enemy whose decision-making process is not determined by … external pieces of evidence and analysis, but by their feelings, by the feelings of an unquestioned leader, by political absolutes, and by the advice of some court soothsayer.”

The United States might possibly face opponents driven by “unquestioned adherence to a leader who has a bad dream” or relies on “fortune telling or astrology or all those things that underlie decision-making in many parts of the world,” he said.

Today’s potential opponents, he said, “don’t see their citizens as citizens.  They are subjects, they are consumables.”

Argues for Pursuing New Nuclear Capabilities

Such factors, Payne said, raise questions about whether the United States can have confidence in its present deterrence capabilities, consisting mostly of high-yield nuclear weapons.

“Interest in research on new, low-yield nuclear weapons comes from a desire for a deterrent that is believable,” he said.

“Some opposing leaders may doubt U.S. deterrent threats because our existing arsenal has generally high yields and a relative lack of precision,” he said.

He referred to 10-year-old legislation barring such research, which the administration successfully encouraged Congress to amend this year, as “thought control.”

“What’s all the fuss about?” Payne said.  The law “when rigidly applied, restricts even thinking … about new low-yield nuclear weapons.  Yes, thought control is alive and well under existing law,” he said.

He also said a study to consider modifying an existing nuclear weapon for improved bunker-busting capabilities and potentially striking biological weapons facilities was first sought during the Clinton administration.

“The response to these initiatives has, as I said earlier, been reminiscent of the antinuclear left’s Cold War tactics in both style and substance,” he said, which is characterized by “overheated partisan rhetoric intended to frighten and politicize the unsuspecting.”

Nuclear Pre-Emption Critique Disputed

Payne disputed charges from arms control organizations that the administration initiatives would make the use of a nuclear weapon in future conflict more likely.

“The research initiatives that I described are being reported as evidence that the Bush administration is looking for nuclear pre-emption against someone,” he said.

“It’s all familiar nonsense of course, but its scary nonsense,” he said.

Three years ago, a Payne-led panel released a study concluding that nuclear weapons could play a greater role in U.S. defense policy.  The panel included current White House Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone.

The study, Rationale and Requirements for U.S. Nuclear Forces and Arms Control, concluded there might be a future need for nuclear weapons that could provide “unique targeting capabilities (deep underground/biological weapons targets)” and said nuclear weapons could also be used to “neutralize enemy military capabilities, especially nuclear and other WMD forces.”

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Iran:  Nuclear Scientists Travel to North Korea

Iranian nuclear scientists have traveled to North Korea three times this year, perhaps in an effort to learn techniques to evade international inspectors, a Japanese newspaper reported today (see GSN, June 9).

Two Iranian scientists visited North Korea in March, an Iranian nuclear official traveled there in April, and two others spent more than a week there in May, according to Tokyo’s Sankei newspaper (Agence France-Presse, June 11).

Meanwhile, a Western diplomat said inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have been obstructed from conducting inspections in Iran after inspectors were denied access to a Tehran electric company that they want to investigate.

Iranian officials, however, denied the charge.

“Everything they’ve asked for [under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] we’ve done,” said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s atomic energy agency.

Iran also denied that is in violation of the NPT — as Washington has repeatedly claimed — and called on U.S. officials to stop leveling accusations about a secret Iranian weapons program without concrete proof of its existence (Soraya Nelson, Knight Ridder/Miami Herald, June 11).

“We do not have any site in Iran which is necessary to declare to the agency based on its regulations,” Aghazadeh said.  “In the era of satellites, how could such huge facilities be hidden?” he asked (Parisa Hafezi, Reuters/Washington Times, June 11).

The Iranian denial follows an IAEA report that alleges that Iran illegally imported uranium from China in 1991, including 1,000 kilograms of uranium hexafluoride, plus quantities of uranium tetrafluoride and uranium dioxide.  Centrifuges use uranium hexafluoride to enrich uranium into nuclear power fuel or nuclear weapons material.

Iran said it did not report the imported uranium because officials believed the amount was too small (Miranda Eeles, London Times, June 11).

Despite Tehran’s denials, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has again claimed that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

“The intelligence community in the United States and around the world currently assess that Iran does not have nuclear weapons,” Rumsfeld said.  “The assessment is that they do have a very active program,” he added (Reuters, June 11).

The European Union will also apply pressure to Tehran to accept more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities, the Financial Times reported today (Bozorgmehr/Dempsey, Financial Times, June 1).

Iranian officials said they will not accept international inspectors to monitor nuclear facilities unless Tehran is allowed to acquire more modern technology (Associated Press/Washington Post, June 11).

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North Korea:  No Schedule for Nuclear Talks, U.S. Official Says

A U.S. ambassador to South Korea said today there is no firm plan or date for talks between Washington, Pyongyang and other regional powers (see GSN, June 10).

“We don’t have a timetable for talks yet,” Thomas Hubbard said.  “We are ready for multilateral dialogue as soon as the North Koreans are,” he added.

However, the Yomiuri, Japan’s largest newspaper, yesterday quoted a U.S. official as saying that talks would probably be held with the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea and Japan as early as July (Kenji Hall, Associated Press, June 11).

Hubbard also said the United States may resort to other measures if talks fail, but that does not necessarily translate to military action, the Korea Herald reported (Seo Hyun-jin, Korea Herald, June 11).

Seoul Boosts Defense Spending

South Korea announced it would increase its defense spending by 28 percent in next year’s budget, Agence France-Presse reported today.

“The increase in our defense spending reflects our plans to acquire new equipment,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said.  That new equipment will most likely include procuring new Patriot missiles, the spokesman added.

“We are not free of threats by North Korea’s long-range artillery and missiles,” Deputy Defense Minister Cha Young-koo said yesterday.

The defense spending boost will also earmark money for missiles, surveillance planes, radar, satellite technology and an Aegis warship (Lim Chang-won, Agence France-Presse, June 11).

In a measure aimed at crippling Pyongyang, an official from the South Korean ruling party has announced his support of sanctions against North Korea.

“The nuclear standoff between the United States and North Korea can be addressed as the North is vulnerable to economic sanctions from the international community,” said Cho Soon-sung, chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party’s special committee on the nuclear crisis.

Cho said China would probably not oppose sanctions.

“China will eventually follow Washington’s move because it also wants a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,” he said (Joo Sang-min, Korea Herald, June 11).

Japan Cracks Down on Shipping

Shortly after the White House announced that it will push for allies to put pressure on North Korean shipping, Japan yesterday detained two North Korean cargo ships, citing safety concerns.

Japanese authorities detained the Namsan 3 and the Daehungrason 2, leading North Korea to react angrily.

“If this is part of ‘sanctions’ against the D.P.R.K., we cannot but regard it as a very serious development,” said the state-run Korean Central News Agency (James Brooke, New York Times, June 11).

The inspection was conducted amid suspicions that North Korean vessels have smuggled drugs to Japan and illegally carried home ballistic missile parts.  The Namsan 3 was cleared to leave port today, according to Japanese officials (Agence France-Presse, June 11).

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today said that Japan, the United States and Australia would look into potential changes to international law to allow North Korean ships to be interdicted at sea (BBC News, June 11).

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United States II:  Air Force Successfully Tests Minuteman 3 ICBM

Early today, the U.S. Air Force successfully test-fired an unarmed Minuteman 3 ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California (see GSN, Sept. 20, 2002). 

The long-range missile flew for about 30 minutes before hitting a target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, staff Sgt. Rebecca Bonilla said (Associated Press/San Jose Mercury News, June 11).

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United States III:  Y-12 Contractor Faces Fine for Alleged Safety Violations

A company that manages a U.S. nuclear weapons plant could suffer a civil penalty of almost $100,000 for alleged safety violations at the facility, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, May 22).

Personnel at BXWT, which oversees the U.S. Energy Department’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., failed to conduct required inspections last year of two pieces of equipment that had been previously determined to be “safety significant,” said Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration.  As a result, the U.S. company could face a fine of $96,250, AP reported.

While the violations did not result in “actual harm,” the failure to conduct the inspections could have created safety hazards, NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said (Associated Press, June 11).  

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North Korea:  Washington Seeks Interdiction of North Korean Weapons

The United States and its Northeast Asian allies are planning to monitor North Korean shipping in an attempt to stop nuclear material from entering the country and missile technology from leaving it, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, June 9).

The White House is hoping to use “selective interdiction” to reduce the income North Korea allegedly derives from selling arms and illegal drugs, according to officials (see GSN, May 19).

To avoid questions about the legality of stopping and searching North Korean ships the program “will be focused on those activities which require no additional laws, no international treaties, no going to the United Nations Security Council,” said a senior U.S. official.  “Look at the Japanese, who can’t stop transfers of money on North Korean ships, but suddenly discovered they can do ‘safety inspections,’” the official added.

Officials will not make any formal announcement of the new interdiction policy, and they will attempt to avoid a direct confrontation, the Times reported (David Sanger, New York Times, June 10).

“This does not mean we are on our way to war,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell, “We are not.”

Powell played down North Korea’s statement yesterday that it is seeking nuclear weapons.

“They said things like this before,” Powell said.  “They’ve said they have nuclear weapons, and today they seem to be saying they would develop nuclear weapons,” he added (Agence France-Presse, June 10).

Last week, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said Washington was discussing the plan to cut off shipping lanes to North Korea’s alleged importing and exporting of weapons.

“As we close off proliferation networks, we will inevitably intercept related criminal activity and overlapping smuggling rings,” Bolton said (Andrew Ward, Financial Times, June 10).

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Iran:  Tehran Admits Secret Uranium Imports

Iran has admitted that it secretly imported uranium from China more than a decade ago, an action that failed to comply with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, according to a recently released document from the International Atomic Energy Agency (see GSN, June 6).  The report was distributed to diplomats prior to a June 16 IAEA meeting (Joby Warrick, Washington Post, June 6).

“Iran has failed to meet its obligations under its safeguards agreement with respect to the reporting of nuclear material, the subsequent processing and use of that material and the declaration of facilities where the material was stored and processed,” the document says.

Specifically, the report says Iran imported 1.8 metric tons of natural uranium, an amount that is “not insignificant in terms of a state’s ability to conduct nuclear research and development activities,” according to the report.

The report says, “Iran has acknowledged the production of uranium metal, uranyl nitrate, ammonium uranyl carbonates, UO2 [uranium dioxide] pellets and uranium wastes”

Summarizing, the report says, “the number of failures by Iran to report the material, facilities and activities in question in a timely manner as it is obliged to do pursuant to its safeguards agreement is a matter of concern” (Reuters/Planet Ark, June 9). 

On Friday, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, “the report and Iran’s programs themselves are deeply troubling” (State Department transcript, June 6).

Iranian officials admitted that they did not report the uranium imports but they said Iran did not violate any international nuclear agreements.

“There is no mention of the word ‘violation,’” said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.  “The report only mentions ‘failure,’ which is still a legal debate between us.  And these are normal differences,” he added (Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press/Raleigh News and Observer, June 8).

Aghazadeh maintained that the 1991 incident does not reflect on Iran’s current compliance.

“The report goes back to 12 years ago and has nothing to do with the organization’s current activities in the nuclear sector,” he added (Reuters/Moscow Times, June 9).

Iranian officials said that the report actually shows Tehran is cooperating with the international atomic agency.

“This report, like other reports by the agency’s chief, bears legal points and indicates Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization’s transparent interaction with the IAEA,” said organization spokesman Khalil Moosavi.  “America is repeating its claims against Iran … repeating such claims does not mean being able to prove them,” he added (Parinoosh Arami, Reuters, June 7).

Nuclear experts said the report might force Iran to act.

“It puts Iran on notice,” said David Albright, a former IAEA inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security.  “There’s a clock ticking, and Iran cannot delay answering to the IAEA much longer,” he added (Warrick, Washington Post).

Spent Fuel Agreement Close

Iran is prepared to sign an agreement to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia, according to the Iranian ambassador to Moscow.  Russia has said it will not supply nuclear fuel to Iran until Tehran formally agrees to return it after it is exhausted.

“Iran is willing, even now, to sign this protocol, and all we are waiting for in this respect is the elimination of the problems of an environmental nature connected with this implementation of this document on the Russian side,” said Gholamreza Shafe’i.  The agreement “has already been agreed by the two sides and the relevant ministers are to sign it,” he added (Interfax, June 6 in FBIS-SOV, June 5).

The ambassador was less decisive about Iran’s accession to the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, designed to give U.N. nuclear inspectors the right to conduct more stringent inspections.

“The protocol stipulates certain commitments on our part, but we must have some rights as well,” he said (Interfax II, June 6 in FBIS-SOV, June 5).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Publicly Admits Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons

In a state-run news agency commentary, North Korea has for the first time publicly admitted that it is seeking nuclear weapons, Reuters reported today (see GSN, June 6).

“We are not trying to possess a nuclear deterrent in order to blackmail others, but we are trying to reduce conventional weapons and divert our human and monetary resources to economic development and improve the living standards of the people,” said a statement from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (Martin Nesirky, Reuters, June 9).

The statement is the first public acknowledgment of what is commonly accepted by many, said Yu Suk-ryul of the South Korean Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, which is connected to the Foreign Ministry.

“Reading between the lines, it looks as though they see that Washington has not been as scared as they had hoped by their threats of the past eight months,” Yu said.

Former South Korean Ambassador Park Soo-gil said the announcement is a “joke.”  He doubted that North Korea sought nuclear weapons to lower conventional forces, instead calling the move an attention-grabbing stunt.

“North Korea began to strip its clothes off a while ago and nobody is paying as much attention to the strip show anymore,” Park said (Charles Whelan, Agence France-Presse, June 9).

Security Causes North Korea to Suspend Ferry

Pyongyang today cut off ferry service to Japan after Tokyo began increasing inspections of North Korean boats and freighters, the New York Times reported.

The ferry arrived in the Japanese port of Niigata Monday and was met by 1,900 Japanese law enforcement officials.  The Japanese group included police officers and officials from the Transport, Health, Justice and Finance ministries.

This summer, the extensive inspections will be applied to North Korean cargo ships, according to the New York Times.

“We are going to keep a really severe eye on the North Korean ships,” said Taro Kono, a governing party member of Japan’s Parliament.  “We are not going to allow narcotics to come into Japan.  We are not going to allow missile parts to go back to North Korea,” he added (James Brooke, New York Times, June 9).

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Georgia:  Country Ratifies IAEA Safeguards Agreement, Additional Protocol

Georgia has ratified a safeguards agreement reached with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations announced last week (see GSN, Oct. 28, 2002).  In addition, Georgia has also ratified an Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement, giving the agency even greater authority to monitor nuclear activity.

So far, 46 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty members have failed to complete safeguards agreements with the IAEA, the United Nations said in a press release.  In addition, 77 countries that have such agreements have not yet ratified Additional Protocols, including 21 countries known to have significant nuclear programs.

“There has been incremental progress, but the number of safeguards agreements and Additional Protocols actually in force continues to be well below expectations,” IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a statement.  “I reiterate my call on all states that have not done so to conclude these instruments and bring them into force,” he said (U.N. release, June 6).

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Iran:  Another Official Denies Pause in Russian Aid

Contrary to reports from U.S. and British officials, Russia will not discontinue its nuclear assistance to Iran, a Russian spokesman said yesterday (see GSN, June 5).

U.S. officials and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to stop nuclear assistance to Iran until Tehran agreed to tougher nuclear inspections.

However, Putin never promised to discontinue the assistance, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko.

A leading Russian lawmaker visited Washington this week and questioned U.S. claims that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, the Washington Times reported today.

“Your CIA said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  We never thought so in Russia, and so far nothing has been found,” said Dmitry Rogozin, the chairman of the Russian Duma’s committee on international affairs.  “Now the CIA makes the same claim for Iran.  How on earth can we give them our trust one more time when they just made such a mistake?” he asked.

Rogozin said that Russia genuinely believes that they are not aiding Tehran’s alleged nuclear weapons ambitions.

“We are not so insane as to set up a time bomb under our own chairs,” he said.

Yakovenko said Russia will continue to seek an agreement to require Iran to return spent nuclear fuel to Russia.

Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency reported this week that Gholamreza Aqazadeh, the top Iranian nuclear official, is scheduled to travel to Moscow next month to finalize the completion of the Bushehr nuclear plant, now under construction with Russian assistance.

U.S. officials continue to allege that Iran is developing a clandestine nuclear weapons program, according to the Times.

“The conclusion is inescapable that Iran is pursuing its ‘civil’ nuclear energy program not for peaceful and economic purposes but as a front for developing the capability to produce nuclear materials for nuclear weapons,” said U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton.

Rogozin, however, was perplexed by the U.S. stance.

“We genuinely do not understand what the Americans want from us,” he said (David Sands, Washington Times, June 6).

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North Korea:  South Korea Will Not Develop Nuclear Weapons

South Korean Prime Minister Goh Kun said yesterday that South Korea will not develop nuclear weapons in response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions (see GSN, June 5).

“We stick to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty given that South Korea is under the protection of the U.S. nuclear umbrella,” Goh said (Joo Sang-min, Korea Herald, June 6).

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said, however, that Japan might develop nuclear weapons in response to North Korea, and that could spark a regional arms race.

“If Japan becomes determined in its bid to develop nuclear arms for certain reasons, there will be growing calls for a military buildup,” Roh said.  “Military buildup efforts will begin amid growing distrust and antagonism, and we should deeply consider what to do to cope with future developments,” he added (Korea Times, June 6).

U.S. Will Rotate Troops Near DMZ

Although the United States has announced it will withdraw its forces from South Korea’s demilitarized zone with North Korea, troops will rotate through training zones near the border, the New York Times reported today.

The bulk of U.S. forces will be stationed at bases 75 miles south of Seoul, but the training zones near the border will continue the forward U.S. presence, according to the Times (Howard French, New York Times, June 6).

Weldon Reports on Pyongyang Visit

U.S. Representative Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), fresh off a visit to North Korea, said Pyongyang claims to have nuclear weapons, according to a recent entry in the Congressional Record.

Weldon said, however, that he believes the nuclear confrontation can be resolved.

“We are in a tense situation right now, because North Korea has admitted publicly in our meetings that we held that they have nuclear weapons today.  They admitted that they are reprocessing the 8,000 nuclear rods from their nuclear power plants and they admitted that that reprocessed nuclear weapons-grade fuel will be used to build more nuclear weapons,” he said.  “I came away convinced that we, in fact, can find a way to get the North Koreans to give up their nuclear capability,” he added.

Weldon also said that using an economic embargo or military action to resolve the situation would be “unacceptable” (Curt Weldon, Nautilus Institute release, June 5).

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United States:  NNSA Laser Sets Beam Quality Record

A developing U.S. laser, designed to help the National Nuclear Security Administration maintain the U.S. nuclear weapon stockpile without underground testing, recently broke a world record for laser performance, the NNSA announced yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 31, 2002).

The laser, housed at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, produced 10.4 kiloJoules of ultraviolet light in a single laser beam, according to the NNSA.

“The NIF project has demonstrated excellent management and technical performance under very demanding circumstances.  NIF continues surpassing expectations and is now breaking world records.  It is well on its way to becoming one of the jewels of NNSA and the nuclear weapons complex,” said NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks.

The laser was focused into a system designed to precisely measure laser beam quality.  Officials plan to use the laser’s energy to recreate the extreme temperatures and pressure associated with nuclear explosions.  When fully activated, NIF will provide 50 times more energy than any other laser system and will be a cornerstone of the NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program without underground nuclear testing.

“We have met or exceeded all current required milestones in the baseline established three years ago.  We have now demonstrated on a per-beam basis the critical performance criteria of NIF.  These accomplishments show that NIF is ready to fulfill the promise of its vital role in maintaining the viability of U.S. nuclear deterrent through the Stockpile Stewardship Program,” said NIF Associated Director George Miller (NNSA release, June 5).

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