USAF COUNTERPROLIFERATION CENTER CPC OUTREACH JOURNAL Maxwell AFB, Alabama Issue No. 897, 12 April 2011 Articles & Other Documents: Iran Confirms Making Nuclear Centrifuge Parts US Senators Urge N.Korea-Myanmar Probe Iran Unveils Third Generation of Nuclear Centrifuges Myanmar could Develop Nukes with N. Korea's Help: Expert Iran to Build New Nuclear Research Reactors-Report Pakistan Tells US to Cut CIA, Special Forces Numbers: ‗Bushehr is World‘s Safest Nuclear Power Plant‘ Report Ex-U.N. Panel Head Worries about another North Defense Industry Troubles Slow Russian Missile Effort, Korean Nuke Test Lawmaker Says China Eyes Step-by-Step Plan to Resume Nuclear Talks: Retired General: U.S. Vulnerable to Cyber Attack Wu Al-Qaeda Sees Opportunity in Peace Japan Needs to Build Sarcophagus over Fukushima Reactor – Experts China‘s Defence White Paper – 2010 A Preliminary Analysis Disaster at Fukushima Now as Bad as Chernobyl Why India should retain Its No-First-Use Policy? Are Indian Nuclear Weapons Facilities Safe? 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. Khaleej Times – U.A.E. Iran Confirms Making Nuclear Centrifuge Parts Agence France-Presse (AFP) 9 April 2011 TEHRAN - Iran on Saturday confirmed it was producing components to make centrifuges — the device which enriches uranium — at a factory which it said was not secret as claimed by an opposition group. ―The factory mentioned by Monafeghin (hypocrites) is not a new discovery,‖ state news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying, and referring to the People‘s Mujahedeen of Iran, the main armed opposition group fighting the Iranian regime. ―We manufacture components (in the factory), but it is in no way a secret,‖ Salehi said when asked about PMOI‘s claim that Iran produces components for centrifuges used to enrich uranium. On Thursday, PMOI spokesman in Washington Alireza Jafarzadeh claimed the Taba company site, west of Tehran, has been operating for four and a half years, citing information gathered by the group. Taba, which in Persian stands for Iranian Cutting Tools Factory, produces ―aluminium casing, magnets, molecular pumps, composite tubes, centrifuge bases,‖ the spokesman said. Jafarzadeh said Iran‘s capacity to build centrifuges, and the number operating in the country, was a critical question in determining the true intentions and goals of the Iranian nuclear programme. But Salehi said there were ―plenty of factories in the country that manufacture equipment needed by the Bushehr power plant and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI).‖ The major world powers accuse Iran of seeking to acquire a nuclear military capacity under the cover of its civilian atomic programme, a charge Tehran strongly denies. Their main objection is to Iran‘s uranium enrichment programme, which can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or the fissile material for an atomic warhead. Tehran‘s nuclear programme has been condemned in six UN Security Council resolutions which include four sets of economic and political sanctions, despite the fact that its enrichment activities are supervised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2011/April/middleeast_April182.xml&se ction=middleeast (Return to Articles and Documents List) Tehran Times – Iran Sunday, April 10, 2011 Iran Unveils Third Generation of Nuclear Centrifuges Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has unveiled the country‘s latest nuclear products. The unveiling ceremony took place on Saturday, which was Iran‘s National Nuclear Technology Day. Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Director Fereydoun Abbasi also attended the ceremony. Ahmadinejad unveiled the second and the third generation of the country‘s nuclear centrifuges. According to Abbasi, Iran is currently using the first generation of its centrifuges to produce uranium enriched to the purity level of just below 5 percent. Ahmadinejad also announced that a production line for uranium dioxide has been inaugurated. Speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony, he said efforts should be made to make Iran the hub of nuclear technology. He stated, ―Trust in God and unprecedented unity among the Iranian people are the key to our achievements,‖ and the enemies cannot deprive Iran of its dignity, independence, and self-reliance. The Islamic Republic of Iran should utilize all of its nuclear potential, he added. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president pointed to the powerful earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March and the nuclear problems that ensued. A nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake is leaking radiation, which is posing a serious threat to Japan. Ahmadinejad said the International Atomic Energy Agency has not provided the public with accurate information about the scope of the threat and added that the problem is much more serious than it appears. If such an incident with a much lower severity had taken place in a country that is opposed to the United States, a brouhaha would have been created about it, he stated. He criticized certain Western countries for adopting double-standard policies, saying the West is causing a commotion at a time when the Bushehr nuclear power plant has not even completely come on stream. http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=238281 (Return to Articles and Documents List) Los Angeles Times Iran to Build New Nuclear Research Reactors-Report By Reuters April 11, 2011 TEHRAN, April 11 (Reuters) - Iran plans to build "four to five" nuclear research reactors and will continue to enrich uranium to provide their fuel, a nuclear official said on Monday despite Western pressure on Tehran to curb atomic work. The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Fereydoon Abbasi, said Tehran would build the reactors "in the next few years" to produce medical radioisotopes, according to the students news agency ISNA. "To provide the fuel for these (new) reactors, we need to continue with the 20 percent enrichment of uranium," ISNA quoted him as saying. Abbasi's remarks are likely to deepen Western fears that Iran's atomic work is aimed at building nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and has dismissed international sanctions that were tightened last year as illegal. Talks with major powers aimed at resolving the nuclear impasse stalled in January, with Tehran insisting it would not accept any attempt to curtail its nuclear enrichment activities. Experts have previously said Tehran has stockpiled low-enriched uranium (LEU) and has enough for at least two atomic bombs if it was refined to a much higher level. Abbasi also said the country would increase the amount of its uranium enriched up to 20 percent whenever needed. "We will also raise the amount of the enriched uranium up to 20 percent based on our country's need and for doing so, we will not seek anybody's permission," he said. Iran, a major oil producer, says it wants only LEU for the running of nuclear power plants to boost its electricity supply. The U.N. Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran, reiterating its demand that it suspend enrichment. The Islamic Republic has also been hit by more far-reaching sanctions imposed by the United States and the EU. On Saturday, Abbasi said "second and third generation" centrifuges -- the machines which enrich uranium to a purity needed in nuclear reactors, or, if to a high enough level, nuclear weapons -- had been produced and tested. Writing by Zahra Hosseinian, editing by Alison Williams http://www.latimes.com/sns-rt-iran-nuclearreactohos173461-20110411,0,4988764,full.story (Return to Articles and Documents List) Tehran Times – Iran Monday, April 11, 2011 „Bushehr is World‟s Safest Nuclear Power Plant‟ Tehran Times Political Desk TEHRAN - Iran‘s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, has said the Bushehr nuclear power plant has the highest level of safety compared to the world‘s other nuclear facilities. Speaking during a televised program on Saturday night, Soltanieh stated that no incident like the one that occurred at Japan‘s Fukushima nuclear power plant will ever happen at the Bushehr plant. Several explosions hit different units of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing a radiation leak after a massive earthquake struck Japan in March. Soltanieh said the Fukushima incident was a ―hydrogen explosion‖, which happened due to the geographical conditions of the plant and before it turned into a nuclear explosion, it was brought under control. There are over 300 reactors and 444 nuclear plants in 30 countries, he said, adding that only three of them have experienced serious incidents, with the Fukushima incident being the latest.