”A Watershed Moment for Proliferation”

July 30, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Leah Fae Cochran

New technology - SILEX, a new laser enrichment technology that poses significant proliferation risks, is on the verge of receiving a commercial license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission without the required review of proliferation concerns, writes R. Scott Kemp in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. “If Congress or the NRC fails to act in the next few weeks, the new license will be issued, ushering in a watershed moment for nuclear proliferation.”

--”Sensitive information will leak, and more states will become interested in SILEX. It is time we study whether the benefits of this project outweigh the proliferation risks. There is plenty of time to conduct that study -- during GLE's ‘years’ of pre-commercialization research. Meanwhile, the NRC can hold GLE's license, with final decision pending a positive nonproliferation review. When a nation's regulator fails to regulate, it leads to unforeseen and potentially catastrophic consequences,” writes Kemp. http://bit.ly/Q4g6UM

Football - Mia Steinle details how CMRR has become a political football, despite expert opinions that it is unnecessary because existing infrastructure could substitute for the cost-ridden planned facility.

--”Former NNSA officials, former nuclear weapons lab managers, and other credible experts have said that the nuclear facility is not needed for the nation’s national defense and is a waste of taxpayer money—up to $6 billion, according to the administration’s latest estimates,” Steinle writes for POGO. http://bit.ly/M54xI2

Welcome to Early Warning - Subscribe to our morning email or follow us on twitter.

--Have a tip? Email earlywarning@ploughshares.org. Want to support this work? Click here.

Campaign - In a campaign speech in Jerusalem, Mitt Romney said that he agrees with stopping Iran from having any enrichment capability. Additionally, his senior foreign policy aide said a Romney Administration would “respect” a unilateral strike by Israel. The New York Times has the story. http://nyti.ms/P94MSZ

Tweet - @MicahZenko: See CTBT Annex II for the 44 states considered to have nuclear "capability." A broad list. http://1.usa.gov/PcqJR9

Iran’s role in resolving Syria’s conflict - The conflict in Syria is at a tipping point. The aim of U.S. diplomacy should be to devise a post-Assad power sharing arrangement that persuades pro-Assad factions to abandon the fight, writes Vali Nasr. Iran could be the most important participant in such a transition.

--”It alone has the influence on Mr. Assad and the trust of various parts of his government to get them to buy in to a transition. Currently, Iran is at an impasse: it cannot abandon Mr. Assad, nor can it save him. But intense debates are taking place among its leaders, some of whom have called for ending Iran’s unwavering support for Mr. Assad.” Full article at The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/OfncCK

Security breach - “Three peace activists -- including an 82-year-old nun -- infiltrated the highest-security area of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in a predawn protest Saturday, reportedly evading guards and cutting through three or four fences in order to spray-paint messages, hang banners and pour human blood at the site where warhead parts are manufactured and the nation's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium is stored,” writes Frank Munger at The Knoxville News Sentinel. http://bit.ly/PcBkvl

India BMD deal? - “If you liked the 2005 U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement, you’ll love providing U.S. technology or hardware to India for ballistic missile defenses,” writes Michael Krepon at Arms Control Wonk. http://bit.ly/OfoQUH

Tweet - @pourmecoffee: Einstein in fuzzy slippers. #einstein #fuzzyslippers http://bit.ly/MfyP0J