UK to Forgo Nuclear Modernization to Save Defense Funds

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: Wednesday October 20, 2010.

UK Delays Replacing Nuclear Deterrent to Cut Cost - Mohammed Abbas and Rhys Jones in Reuters [link]

• Britain will delay spending to replace its Trident submarine-based nuclear weapons system as part of sweeping cuts to the defense budget to help reduce a record deficit, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday.
• Cameron unveiled to parliament Britain's first review of the armed forces since 1998 -- a raft of changes the government says will prepare the military for the future but which critics say will yield financial savings rather than good security strategy.
• "This is not simply a cost-saving exercise to get to grips with the biggest budget deficit in post-war history. It is about taking the right decisions to protect our national security in the years ahead," Cameron said at the start of his statement.
• Cameron said that the defense budget, which stands at 37 billion pounds ($58.39 billion) this year, would fall by 8 percent in real terms over four years.
• The decision on Trident shifts a sensitive political issue to the back burner. The Liberal Democrats, junior partners to Cameron's Conservatives in the ruling coalition, will welcome the Trident decision as they oppose the system's replacement.
• Cameron reassured U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone call on Monday that Britain would "remain a first rate military power and a robust ally of the United States", his office said.

Russia to go to NATO Summit, Eyeing Missile Role - Andreas Rinke and John Irish in Reuters [link]

• Russia will attend next month's NATO summit as it looks to reach a compromise over a Europe-wide missile defense shield, softening its stance after reassurances from France and Germany, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.
• Security is a major stumbling block in Russia's relationship with the West and dominated talks on Monday and Tuesday between Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the northern French seaside town of Deauville.
• "I will go to the Russia-NATO summit in Lisbon," Medvedev said after the talks. "It seems to me that this will further the search for necessary compromises and the development of dialogue between the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic alliance as a whole."
• Russia has taken a cautious approach to U.S. offers of cooperation on missile defense, indicating that it wants a bigger say in evaluating missile threats and planning responses. Moscow is concerned that the shield could be used to counter its own long-range nuclear arsenal, weakening its deterrent and leaving it vulnerable.
• NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was pleased Medvedev had accepted the invitation. "The summit will be an important opportunity to deepen and broaden the political dialogue and practical cooperation between the NATO-Russia Council members, to enhance our shared security," he said.

Iran Says Key Site Has Higher Uranium Ore Reserves - Ali Akbar Dareini in The Washington Post [link]

• Iran said Tuesday it has discovered higher uranium reserves than previously thought at a key southern mine and was stepping up exploration of the ore.
• Nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said the new reserves were found at Iran's only operating uranium mine near Bandar Abbas in southern Iran, 840 miles (1,340 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran.
• Salehi, who is one of Iran's vice presidents, said the government has also provided funds to begin ore extraction at Saghand, the mine with largest uranium reserves in the country. Saghand has not yet become operational.
• Saghand's known reserves are estimated at 1.73 million tons of medium quality ore. The mine, about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Tehran has a capacity of 132,000 tons of uranium ore per year. It consists of an open pit with minimal reserves and a deep mine nearby. Lack of funds has reportedly delayed ore extraction at the mine.

Senators Seek Data on Secret U.S.-Russia Missile Talks - Bill Gertz in The Washington Times [link]

• Senators asked Mrs. Clinton to turn over for review documents and transcripts of talks at the Arms Control and International Security Working Group headed by Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
• "We are writing to request information pertaining to press reports suggesting the imminent conclusion of a missile defense agreement between Russia and the United States," the senators stated in the letter sent Monday.
• The group of senators, led by Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, suggested in the letter that a failure to provide the documents could affect the upcoming Senate debate on the ratification of the New START, the strategic arms treaty with Russia signed in April.
• State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in response to the letter that "we are not pursuing a missile defense agreement with Russia."
• "The purpose of the joint assessment is to increase our mutual understanding of the ballistic missile threat," Mr. Crowley said. "There is nothing in these discussions that contemplates limits on missile defense, but rather cooperation between the U.S. and Russia."

A View from the Dark Side 

The Illusory Verification Gap - John R. Bolton and Paula A. DeSutter in The Washington Times [link]

• President Obama and a fellow Democrat, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, are demanding that the Senate ratify the New START arms-control treaty with Russia during this year's lame-duck congressional session. They argue that the absence of inspections since START I expired on Dec. 5, 2009, is creating holes in U.S. information on Russia that could give Moscow significant advantages over us in coming years…But the "verification gap" is a red herring, a problem of Mr. Obama's own making.
• A five-year extension was possible under START I's terms, pending entry into force of a new agreement. In early November 2009, Mr. Lugar proposed legislation enabling START inspections to continue while a new agreement was negotiated, saying: "It is incumbent upon the United States and Russia to maintain mutual confidence and preserve a proven verification regime between Dec. 5 and the entry into force of a new agreement."
• Initially, the Obama administration's negotiators confidently predicted they would have START I's successor negotiated in ample time to avoid a verification gap.
• Thus, it was the Obama administration that failed to meet its own deadline for achieving a new arms-control treaty with Russia, the Obama administration that decided not to extend START I and the Obama administration that did not obtain a verification bridging agreement.
• This record, to say the least, provides little ammunition for the administration's newfound urgency for Senate action on New START.
• NOTE: While DeSutter was in office, she argued against extending START I verification measures [Hat tip to Nukes of Hazard]