Russia said to be violating 1987 missile accord

Russia is engaged in a major violation of the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with the United States by building a new medium-range missile banned under the accord, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
Disclosure of the treaty violation comes as President Barack Obama last week called for a new round of arms negotiations with Moscow aimed at cutting deployed nuclear warheads by one-third.
Intelligence officials said internal assessments identified Russia’s new Yars M missile that was tested earlier this month as an INF missile with a range of less than 5,500 kilometers.

Read More.............. 

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts

WASHINGTON -- By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree.
Relations between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are tense, reflecting U.S. concerns about human rights abuses in Russia, the two leaders' disagreement over Syria's civil war and other points of contention.
That doesn't mean the U.S. won't eventually shrink its arsenal beyond what is required by an existing U.S.-Russia treaty that took effect just two years ago. It probably will. But it might not happen on Obama's watch.
Obama declared in Berlin on Wednesday that he wants to cut the number of U.S. nuclear arms by another one-third, which would shrink the total to between 1,000 and 1,100 weapons for bombers and land- and sea-based missiles. He did not explicitly rule out doing this unilaterally, but he said he intends to "seek negotiated cuts" with Russia - an approach some nuclear disarmament advocates said could lead to a dead end.
Bruce Blair, co-founder of Global Zero, an international group that advocates the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons, said negotiating a new treaty with Moscow would be "practically a death knell for arms control," in part because there is strong opposition in the Senate to making any further reductions in U.S. nuclear arms.

Read More.............. 

Iran Offers Plan, Dismissed by U.S., on Nuclear Crisis

WASHINGTON — With harsh economic sanctions contributing to the first major protests in Iran in three years, Iranian officials have begun to describe what they call a “nine-step plan” to defuse the nuclear crisis with the West by gradually suspending the production of the uranium that would be easiest for them to convert into a nuclear weapon.
But the plan requires so many concessions by the West, starting with the dismantling of all the sanctions that are blocking oil sales and setting off the collapse of the Iranian currency, that American officials have dismissed it as unworkable. Nonetheless, Iranian officials used their visit to the United Nations last week to attempt to drum up support, indicating that the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is finally feeling the pressure. 

Read More..................

Iran may still be years away from any nuclear-armed missile

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran already has enough low-enriched uranium for several atomic bombs if refined to a high degree but it may still be a few years away from being able to build a nuclear-armed missile if it decided to go down that path.

Israel's warning last week that Iran will be on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon by mid-2013 seemed to refer to when it could have a sufficient stock of higher-grade uranium to make a quick dash to produce a bomb's worth of weapon-grade material.
But, analysts say, Tehran would need time also for the technologically complicated task of fashioning highly refined uranium gas into a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile - if it opts for such weapons of mass destruction.
"If they haven't worked out all the steps with dummy materials beforehand they will have a lot to do," said a Vienna-based diplomat who is not from one of the six world powers involved in diplomacy over Iran's disputed nuclear activity.


Read More................. 

North Korea: Spark Could Set Off Nuclear War

(UNITED NATIONS) — A North Korean minister lashed out at the United States on Monday, warning that its “hostile” policy has left the Korean peninsula a spark away from a nuclear war.
Addressing the final session of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting, Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil Yon said the Koreas have become “the world’s most dangerous hotspot” and pledged to use the North’s “mighty” military deterrent against any “reckless provocations.”
“The only way to prevent war and ensure lasting peace on the Korean peninsula is to put an end to the U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK,” he said, using the initials of the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The U.S. State Department had no comment on the speech.
Pak addressed the 193-member world body for the first time since the death in December of North Korea’s longtime leader Kim Jong Il and the transfer of power to his son, Kim Jong Un. His speech gave some clues about the foreign policy approach of the new leader, whom Pak addressed as “our dear respected marshal.”

Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/10/02/north-korea-spark-could-set-off-nuclear-war/#ixzz289ZST1el

Clearing Syrian WMDs Means 75K Troops and Massive Air Strikes

A sailor from the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, adjusts his Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) gear during a simulated chemical agent attack during a field training exercise in 2008. U.S. Navy Photo


 In July, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Mullalem declared that Syria’s stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons would go unused in its civil war – unless a foreign power chose to intervene . The threat constituted a rare confirmation of the regime’s unconventional arsenal . The declaration raised serious concerns about U.S. policies in the event the regime did use its chemical or biological weapons. President Obama stated this would constitute a “red line” with “enormous consequences” that would alter calculations for military actions.
Given the various risks concerned with the proliferation or use of unconventional weapons, particularly chemical weapons, understanding the scope and requirements of potential military missions is essential. The first major consideration is whether U.S. and potential allied military strikes would focus on destroying, deterring, or securing Syrian weapons stocks. While a deterrent threat can be made without any military deployment, destroying Syrian weapons of mass destruction (WMD) would require airstrikes and special operations teams. A mission to secure Syria’s WMDs would likely be the most costly and dangerous of all, as it would likely involve tens of thousands of foreign ground troops, perhaps as many as 75,000, according to at least one press report.

Read More.................. 

Will Attack On Iran Halt Mideast' Nuclear Ambition

A Strike on Iran Won't Halt Mideast's Nuclear Strivers

Israeli air force F-15I fighter jet conducts an aerial refueling during an air force pilots' graduation ceremony at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, Dec. 28, 2010. (photo by REUTERS/Amir Cohen) 

 

As the clock is ticking on the upcoming US presidential election and the centrifuges in [the nuclear facilities in] Iran are turning around at an ever faster pace, an ever growing-number of hyperbolic phrases, high-flown speeches and banner headlines are filling the air — all apprehensively dealing with the historic moment and the historic decision and the fateful days the like of which have never been seen here before.

The last one to stir up some more drama on these days of awe is none other than [former minister and Knesset member (for the Likud and Kadima)] Tzachi Hanegbi, who has turned into the most fervent advocate of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu. [Addressing a closed meeting of Likud activists,] Tzachi Hanegbi [who is known to be a close associate of Netanyahu and has recently rejoined the Likud] was talking on the [next] most fateful 50 days in Jewish history, naturally, not forgetting to mention that the person in charge at the helm of history these days was a responsible leader with foresight and historical vision, which we, ordinary people, cannot even understand.

Read More..................

Did Syria Tested Its Chemical Weapons?

Syria Tested Chemical Weapons Systems, Witnesses Say

 

Google / DigitalGlobe

The military base at Safira.

The Syrian army is believed to have tested missile systems for poison gas shells at the end of August, statements from various witnesses indicate.

The tests took place near a chemical weapons research center at Safira east of Aleppo, witnesses told SPIEGEL. A total of five or six empty shells devised for delivering chemical agents were fired by tanks and aircraft, at a site called Diraiham in the desert near the village of Khanasir. Iranian officers believed to be members of the Revolutionary Guards were flown in by helicopter for the testing, according to the statements.
The Safira research center is regarded as Syria's largest testing site for chemical weapons. It is officially referred to as a "scientific research center." 

Read More.......................... 

 

US Nuclear weapon Mordernisation

US set to modernise 5113 nukes 

 THE US government is planning to undertake the costliest modernisation ever of its nuclear arsenal, even though the military as a whole is facing stiff spending cuts.

There was no official price estimate for the effort to upgrade and maintain the 5113 warheads in the inventory, replace old delivery systems and renovate the nuclear facilities, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
A study during the northern summer by the Stimson Centre, a Washington think tank, estimated costs would be at least $US352 billion ($333bn) over the coming decade.
Others said the figure could be far higher, particularly if the work was delayed even longer.
Upgrading just one of the seven types of weapons in the stockpile, the B61 bomb, was likely to cost $US10bn over five years, the Post reported.

Read More................. 

The B61 Update

The B61 bomb: A case study in costs and needs

 

View Photo Gallery — An aging arsenal: Federal officials and many outside analysts are convinced that the government must invest huge sums if it is to maintain the air, sea and land nuclear triad on which the country has relied since the start of the Cold War.

ALBUQUERQUE — On the outskirts of New Mexico’s largest city, a team of engineers at Sandia National Laboratories is engaged in a long-running treasure hunt to make sure the oldest weapon in America’s nuclear arsenal, the B61 bomb, remains safe for deployment.
They cannibalize spare B61s for parts, such as the vacuum tubes needed to keep the radars working on active bombs. If they don’t have spares, they track down outdated machines to manufacture the components themselves, as they did when they bought a machine to produce integrated circuits.
But after the manufacturer of the circuits went bankrupt and its machines were no longer available, the Sandia engineers had to become even more innovative.
“We bought three or four on eBay,” Gilbert Herrera, who manages Sandia’s microsystems research and facilities, said as he stood on the work floor recently. “For $100,000 apiece.”

Read More..................... 

 

Pakistan Test Fire Hatf VII Missile

Pakistan tests nuclear-capable missile

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan's military says it has successfully test-fired a cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
An army statement says the Hatf-VII or Babur missile, which has a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), was test-fired from a specially equipped vehicle in an undisclosed location Monday. The statement says the missile has stealth features and can fly very close to the ground.
Pakistan has tested the missile in the past. Senior army officials and scientists attended Monday's test launch. 

Read More.................... 

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/16/4826277/pakistan-tests-nuclear-capable.html#storylink=cpy

 

Is Iran Close To Build Nuclear Weapon?

New intelligence suggests Iran closer to building nuclear weapon 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has received new intelligence that Iran has moved further toward building a nuclear weapon. Here, the reactor building of Iran's nuclear power plant is seen, at Bushehr. Source: AP

 

THE UN atomic agency has received new and significant intelligence over the past month that Iran has moved further toward the ability to build a nuclear weapon, diplomats tell The Associated Press.

They say the intelligence shows that Iran has advanced its work on calculating the destructive power of an atomic warhead through a series of computer models that it ran sometime within the past three years.

The diplomats say the information comes from Israel, the United States and at least two other Western countries. The time-frame is significant because if the International Atomic Energy Agency decides that the intelligence is credible, it would strengthen its concerns that Iran has continued weapons work into the recent past - and may be continuing to do so.

Read More............... 

 

 

 

Russian Has No Intention Of Cutting Its Nuclear Weapon

Russia Rejects Independent Nuke Curbs

 

Russia has no intention of cutting weapons from its nuclear force in the absence of comparable steps by other powers, a high-level Russian diplomat told Interfax in comments published on Thursday.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said his country "will not take any unilateral steps in that sphere. There must be a balance; otherwise that would be irresponsible as regards national security."
He added: "This is not just a necessity. It is imperative. We will not take further steps without their account."

Read More.................