USAF COUNTERPROLIFERATION CENTER CPC OUTREACH JOURNAL Maxwell AFB, Alabama Issue No. 903, 3 May 2011 Articles & Other Documents: 'Iran Self-Sufficient in Nuclear Fuel Cycle' Al Qaeda No.2 Zawahri most Likely to Succeed Bin Laden 10 Nations Urge New Push for Non-Proliferation Pak Had No Knowledge of US Operation against US Asked to Ratify Nuclear-Free Pacific Osama: FO Secrets of India‘s Nuke Stocks Out Critics Have Intelligence Services in their Sights Moscow Keeps Tactical Nuclear Weapons Cuts Issue NASR and Pakistan‘s Nuclear Deterrence – Analysis Low-Key - Russian Senator The Security Implications of Bin Laden's Death Russian, U.S. Military Officials Discuss European Missile Defense in Brussels LUGAR: Next Threat? Counterstrikes with Nukes, Bioweapons Statement on Nuclear Free Zones in Asia and Africa South Asia: Tactical Nuclear Weapons and Strategic US, Romania Announce Plan for Missile Defense Site Risk – Analysis In Pakistan, an Embarrassed Silence on Killing of Bin Can Plan B Work? Laden AFTER BIN LADEN Osama Bin Laden Dead: Osama's Killing Inside Pakistan Major Embarrassment for Army Welcome to the CPC Outreach Journal. As part of USAF Counterproliferation Center’s mission to counter weapons of mass destruction through education and research, we’re providing our government and civilian community a source for timely counterproliferation information. This information includes articles, papers and other documents addressing issues pertinent to US military response options for dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats and countermeasures. It’s our hope this information resource will help enhance your counterproliferation issue awareness. Established in 1998, the USAF/CPC provides education and research to present and future leaders of the Air Force, as well as to members of other branches of the armed services and Department of Defense. Our purpose is to help those agencies better prepare to counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction. Please feel free to visit our web site at http://cpc.au.af.mil/ for in-depth information and specific points of contact. The following articles, papers or documents do not necessarily reflect official endorsement of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or other US government agencies. Reproduction for private use or commercial gain is subject to original copyright restrictions. All rights are reserved. Press TV – Iran 'Iran Self-Sufficient in Nuclear Fuel Cycle' Sunday, May 01, 2011 Iran has reached self-sufficiency in the nuclear fuel cycle and the production of radioisotopes used in medical treatments, says Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Qannadi. ―Despite the West's sanctions on Iran, Iranian youth and scientists have managed to obtain advanced nuclear technologies...‖ IRNA quoted Qannadi as saying on Sunday. The AEOI official added that Iranian experts have also succeeded in making Iran self-sufficient in the field of producing radioisotopes used in medical treatments and made it unnecessary to import the products by utilizing the available facilities of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Qannadi expressed hope that Iran will also produce industrial isotopes in the next several years, saying there will be no need to import those products to Iran either. In June 2010, the United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran, over allegations that the country is pursuing a military nuclear program. Shortly after the UN sanctions, the United States and the European Union imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran's financial and energy sectors, encouraging other countries to abandon investment in the Iranian market. However, Iran rejects the allegations, saying as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the right to use peaceful nuclear technology. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177622.html (Return to Articles and Documents List) Mainichi Daily News – Japan May 1, 2011 10 Nations Urge New Push for Non-Proliferation BERLIN (AP) -- Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany and six other nations have urged other countries in the international community to renew efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear material. The goal of their initiative is to "work toward achieving nuclear disarmament and a strengthening of the international non-proliferation regime," the foreign ministers of the 10 countries said in a joint statement Saturday. The group said it is urgent to reduce the "danger to humanity posed by the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons" and to achieve tangible results on the path toward a world free of nuclear weapons. The production of fissile material for nuclear weapons should be banned internationally "to curb the risk of future nuclear arms races and reduce the danger of non-state actors getting such material into their hands," the ministers said. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also told journalists in Berlin that the group agrees that the international treaty banning nuclear tests should be swiftly adopted by all countries. In addition, nuclear weapon states should show greater transparency regarding their arsenal, he said. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd lamented that one year after the latest review of the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, "we have seen very little practical work done." The treaty, which came into force in 1970, is one of the international community's main set of rules regarding nuclear disarmament and the prevention of proliferation. There are 190 states who are party to the treaty, but four nations that are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons -- India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel -- have not endorsed it. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, or CTBT, in turn, has been ratified by 153 nations, but it has not yet taken effect because several key countries -- those listed above and others -- refuse to sign and ratify the treaty. "We call on all states which have not yet done so to sign and ratify the CTBT," the ministers in Berlin said. "We believe that an effective end to nuclear testing will enhance and not weaken our national as well as global security and would significantly bolster the global non-proliferation and disarmament regime," the statement added. Finally, the ministers' group stressed the important role played by the U.N.'s nuclear agency, the IAEA, in verifying countries' compliance with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations, which should be further strengthened. Japan's foreign minister said he had briefed the group on the progress made in securing the crippled Fukushima Dai- Chi nuclear facility. "In the area of nuclear power, a consensus has been reached to further strengthen safety measures," Takeaki Matsumoto said through a translator. Germany hosted the disarmament talks that were also attended by the foreign ministers from Chile, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Poland and Turkey. Mexican Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa stressed the importance of the group of 10 nations stretching across continents and political blocks, saying their joint effort reflects "the importance of this issue that has a direct impact of the future of humanity." The group's next meeting is planned on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September. (Mainichi Japan) May 1, 2011 http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/international/news/20110501p2g00m0in050000c.html (Return to Articles and Documents List) Sky News – Australia US Asked to Ratify Nuclear-Free Pacific Tuesday May 3, 2011 United States President Barack Obama has called on the US Senate to agree to a nuclear weapons-free zone in the South Pacific. The US is the only nuclear weapons state to have not ratified the Treaty of Rarotonga protocols, because it has until now refused to accept the 'no-nukes' policy promoted by New Zealand. The treaty was signed by eight countries in 1985, after the South Pacific Forum (SPF) supported New Zealand's proposal to create a nuclear weapons-free zone in the region. But though the US signed the protocols in 1996, it has so far refused to ratify them because it refuses to accept any limitation on the right of passage of US nuclear-powered vessels or naval vessels carrying nuclear weapons in the region. Today the US Embassy announced that President Obama had sent the protocols for the South Pacific treaty, and a similar one in Africa, to the US Senate 'for its advice and consent' to ratification. 'The protocols to the treaties, once ratified, will extend the policy of the United States not to use or threaten use of nuclear weapons against regional zone parties that are members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in good standing with their non-proliferation obligations,' the embassy said. The South Pacific was once a major testing ground for nuclear weapons. The US carried out 106 atmospheric and underwater tests, including 24 atmospheric nuclear tests on Australia's Christmas Island, before 1963. The US and UK stopped all testing in the South Pacific after they signed the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963, but France established its own nuclear test site at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia and conducted a total of 193 tests in the region between 1966 and 1996. In protest against a French decision to ignore an International Court of Justice ruling that it cease testing, New Zealand's third Labour government, led by Norman Kirk, sent two navy frigates, HMNZS Canterbury and Otago, into the test area, carrying Fraser Colman, the minister of immigration and mines. In 1974, the French moved the tests underground. On July 10, 1985, French agents bombed Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior protest vessel in Auckland, killing Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira. The Rainbow Warrior bombing increased international outrage against nuclear testing in the region and the South Pacific forum negotiated a final treaty text relatively quickly. The Treaty of Rarotonga came into force on December 11, 1986, after eight countries (New Zealand, Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu and Samoa) ratified it.