Debate Over Nonproliferation Funding Continues

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

Stories we're following today: Friday February 25, 2011

Harding's Frelinghuysen Oversees Efforts to Keep Bombs From Terrorists - Phil Garber for The Observer Tribune [link]

• Funding for the nation’s effort to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists has been cut by $320 million but Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-11, said $2.1 billion still in the budget is sufficient.  Frelinghuysen said $2.1 billion remains in the budget for the Energy Department’s nuclear nonproliferation programs, including funding for research and development for detecting and deterring the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, department arms-control programs, and control and disposition of excess weapons-grade nuclear material.
• “In contrast to the significant reductions incurred by many other programs in the President’s last budget request, this 2 percent reduction is relatively modest and will not have a significant effect on these important non-proliferation activities,” Frelinghuysen said in a statement.
• Activists, however, said Frelinghuysen could and should play a key role in expanding the nuclear nonproliferation effort. But Frelinghuysen would have to buck the Republican majority in Congress that is pushing for major reductions in spending.
• “Without a funding increase, the Energy Department will run out of money for non-proliferation efforts in the next few months,” said Flanders resident Madelyn Hoffman, president of the state chapter of NJ Peace Action. “This is a risk that would be foolhardy to take. Enough nuclear material exists around the world to build more than 120,000 Hiroshima-sized nuclear bombs.”

Future U.S. Nuclear-Armed Vessel to Use Attack-Submarine Technology - Elaine M. Grossman for Global Security Newswire [link]

• The U.S. Navy’s next-generation submarine will carry up to 16 Trident ballistic missiles and, in a cost-saving gambit, will take advantage of technologies developed for today’s Ohio-class nuclear-armed vessels and Virginia-class fast attack boats, according to service officials.
• Reflecting a new Defense Department emphasis on reducing procurement costs, the vessel would essentially be an “improved” version of today’s Ohio-class submarines -- or “SSBNs” -- that also incorporates technologies from the submersible attack platform, [said Rear Adm. Joseph Mulloy, the Navy deputy assistant secretary for budget matters].
• The strategy for replacing today’s 14 Ohio-class nuclear-capable submarines “is to maximize the re-use of existing Ohio systems and new designs from Virginia class (as applicable), focus on life cycle total ownership cost affordability, and meet the higher standards required for this [submarine] to achieve mission success in a challenging environment,” according to Navy budget documents.
• Today’s Ohio-class submarines each carry 24 Trident ballistic missiles, though the Navy plans to “inactivate” four tubes per boat under the U.S.-Russian New START arms control agreement (see GSN, Sept. 30, 2010). The treaty, which entered into force early this month, caps deployed nuclear warheads at 1,550 and strategic delivery vehicles at 700, with another 100 platforms allowed in reserve.

US and South Korea Discuss North Korea Nuclear Program - AFP [link]

• South Korea's top nuclear negotiator met Thursday with US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth to discuss Pyongyang's uranium enrichment program, officials said. Envoy Wi Sung-Lac's visit came a day after the North's main ally China blocked publication of a UN report criticizing [the DPRK's enrichment] program, which was disclosed last November and could offer a new route to nuclear weapons.
• Wi said his trip would focus on how to cope with the uranium program at the UN Security Council ahead of resuming long-stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear disarmament.
• "We are not seeking a Security Council resolution, but we are still trying hard so the Security Council could properly address the uranium issue," he was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency...China has been trying to revive the six-party talks, which include Russia, the United States, Japan and the two Koreas, and were last held in December 2008. Beijing has said the uranium program should be handled in that forum.

Iran Hunts for Uranium, Finds Scrutiny - George Jahn for The Associated Press [link]

• Iran is expanding its covert global search for the uranium it needs for its nuclear activities and a key focus is Zimbabwe, says a new intelligence report acquired by The Associated Press. The report is in line with international assessments that Iran's domestic supplies cannot sustain its nuclear program that could be turned toward making weapons.
• An intelligence report from a member country of the International Atomic Energy Agency — shared with the AP by an official from that nation — says Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi met secretly last month with senior Zimbabwean mining officials "to resume negotiations ... for the benefit of Iran's uranium procurement plan."
• The official confirming the intelligence described the Salehi visit as part of an international Iranian effort that stretches across Africa, Asia and South America and may involve more than a dozen countries...Other officials familiar with Iran-Zimbabwe relations said that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others had expressed interest in Zimbabwe's uranium supplies several times since April, when Ahmadinejad visited Harare. But they said that action has been stalled by the problem of how to exploit the reserves.
• Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe denied news reports after Ahmadinejad's April visit that the Iranians had secured mining rights for his country's uranium but his office said Iran had a right to apply for them.

A WMD-Free Middle East - Reid Pauly for The Prague Project [link]

• The 2010 Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) produced agreement on a Middle East WMD-free zone Conference to be held in 2012. According to UN understandings, a WMD-free zone limits chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, as well as delivery vehicles for those devices. Much of the Conference details remain a mystery, but proponents need to begin planning sooner rather than later.
• A WMD-free zone in the Middle East is not a new idea. Some states, like Egypt, have been behind the idea for decades, and it was discussed at the 1990 RevCon. All Middle Eastern nations, including Israel, have agreed to participate in the 2012 Conference, but the support is not solid.
• In 1980 Israel agreed to a UN resolution expressing the goal of establishing a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East. Moreover, Israel seems to genuinely want a WMD-free Middle East, as the negotiating processes could bolster Israeli security and territorial integrity.  Many Arab nations are interested in pursuing a WMD-fee zone as a way of eliminating Israeli nuclear weapons.  
• Instead of fixating on the daunting nature of the goal of a WMD-free zone, the conference should make progress by committing states to a series of interim steps paving the road to a WMD-free future...Much like the vision of a nuclear weapons-free world, the goal itself is valuable. Normalizing foreign policy discussions around disarmament has the long-term benefit of shaping future policy decisions...The sooner we begin planning, the better.