The topic is outside of my area of expertise, however...
All,
I offer a couple of websites for your reading pleasure (and make no claims what-so-ever about them) .
Hopefully this one is not so out there (www.fas.org, nuclear weapons tab, resources tab )....
http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?...Desc=Resources
Global Security, good on some things, however......
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-airstrike.htm
Hmmm.....
http://pundita.blogspot.com/2007/12/...-official.html
with a view of resolving all remaining outstanding issues
Head of IAEA to visit Iran in attempts to clear up questions about Tehran's nuclear past
Quote:
VIENNA, Austria: The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Tehran this week in attempts to add momentum to his agency's investigation of Iran's past nuclear activities and to seek additional knowledge of present programs, the IAEA said Monday.
IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei will visit Friday and Saturday "with a view of resolving all remaining outstanding issues and enabling the agency to provide assurance about Iran's past and present activities...
There has been growing impatience on the part of the U.S. and its allies about the pace of the IAEA's probe into Iran's past nuclear programs.
But diplomats accredited to the agency, who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential, told The Associated Press recently that the agency had run into unspecified obstacles, and that Iranian officials were now talking about March as the new deadline — something they said the United States and its allies would be unlikely to accept.
Nice Article, But There's An Agenda There That....
...Just isn't selling.
"Wonderland" (Washington, DC) doesn't care, and doesn't care to care. Imagine a whole bunch of arms control types sitting by the side of the road with a busted limo wailing to high heaven, saying "Yes, we are still important".
Now, add to the chorus, all the European types who were critical every step of the way saying "Those crazy Americans, who knows what they will do". Well, now it's "Where are the Americans?"
Real Simple: We are back home, and it's back to politics as usual (mostly domestic politics, with a little bit of Iraq, and maybe some China). And unless there's a dramatic change, it will be that way all the way through March, 2009 (confirmation hearings).
Bottom Line: The 2007 NIE "solved" Iran's nukes issues until it doesn't. Iran's going to have to "prove" one way or another where they are going, but any substantive changes in any direction regarding Iran are going to be on the shelf.
The Economist article reminds me of a rejoinder saying "America, get back in the game, but this time, do it our way". Hate to drop it to them, but the US pols aren't at all interested, and are unlikely to be anytime soon. The 2007 NIE settled the issue for them, as far as they are concerned.
For the pols to get concerned again, Iran is going to have to prove that the 2007 NIE is flat out wrong in it's assessments. Nitpicking on bits & pieces here and there in the 2007 NIE isn't going to do it. And anyway, why would Iran want to prove that the 2007 NIE is wrong?
Iran in the Russian Press
Iran General Staff fear U.S. attack while Bush in power
Quote:
"The threat from the U.S. has existed ever since the Islamic Revolution in Iran [in 1979]. And the threat only got worse during the Bush presidency era," the General Staff said in a statement.
"While Bush is in power, that is throughout 2008, U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic is still likely..."
Russia concerned over Iran's work to develop long-range missile
Quote:
Russia is concerned over Iran's attempts to develop a long-range ballistic missile following the recent launch of a research rocket into space...
Losyukov said the test demonstrated the advances the Islamic Republic had made in ballistic missile technology that "raise suspicion towards Iran about its possible desire to create a nuclear weapon."
Long-range ballistic missiles are generally designed to deliver nuclear weapons because their payload is too limited for conventional explosives to be efficient. They have a range of 2,500-5,000 kilometers (1,600-3,100 miles).
"Long-range missiles are one of the components of such a [nuclear] weapons system. Naturally, this raises concern," he said.
Iran says space program poses no threat to peace
Quote:
A spokesman for Iran's government gave assurances on Tuesday that the country's achievements in space technology and research pose no threat to peace and stability in the world.
Gholam-Hossein Elham's comments come a day after Tehran's successful launch of the Explorer-1 research rocket, which is reportedly capable of carrying a satellite into orbit, and the unveiling of the country's first domestically built satellite, named Omid, or Hope.
"The launch of the Explorer rocket into space was conducted strictly for scientific purposes," the spokesman told a news conference in Tehran. "Our achievements in space research, as well as our progress in nuclear research, serve peace and justice."
Iran's official news agency IRNA said the Omid advanced research satellite was designed to operate in a low earth orbit and provide a variety of scientific data. It may be launched by March 2009.
Latest Iran Safeguards Report Delivered to IAEA Board
While his report to the board has not been released into the public domain ElBaradei has done a Q & A which can be found at the link below.
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Multi...208/index.html
I also found that a bit strange
Hmmm, could it be something so minor as measurements in inches versus metrics, or is our fuel something like high octane being pumped into a Russian Lada :D
This recent article points to potential problems with Westinghouse selling Ukraine fuel rods, and even leads the reader to believe our fuel rods may be inferior to that of Russia's :eek:
Ukraine’s nuclear authorities are playing with fire
Quote:
Although diversification is a noble goal, the operation of nuclear power plants is highly complicated. Safety alone should encourage Ukraine to use nuclear fuel for which its nuclear power plants were designed, i.e. fuel made in Russia.
Khusein Chechenov, a member of the Russian parliamentary subcommittee on nuclear energy, said, “It was a political decision taken without due regard for economic or scientific considerations.”
According to him, the contract is a mistake made deliberately to spite Moscow.
Westinghouse’s fuel assemblies are 25% more expensive than those provided by Russia’s TVEL Corporation and their quality is questionable.
Experts say that the use of Westinghouse assemblies in Russian-made reactors will considerably increase the risk of an accident at the Yuzhnoukrainsky nuclear power plant.
Finland has recently decided to continue buying Russian fuel for its Russian-built reactors and declined Westinghouse’s offer, and the use of American fuel at the Temelin plant in the Czech Republic nearly caused an accident. Accordingly, Czech authorities have decided to use Russian technologies despite political considerations.
The management of the Paks nuclear power plant in Hungary entrusted the cleaning of fuel assemblies at its second block to the French-German company Framatome ANP. The use of an “alien” technology resulted in the malfunction of 30 fuel assemblies and almost caused an accident. The Hungarian authorities called on Russian specialists for help, who managed to remedy the situation only three and a half years later.