Nuclear Policy News – March 2, 2010

FISSILE MATERIAL
New Momentum for Iran Sanctions
WSJ by David Crawford

NKorea vows to bolster nuclear deterrent
AP by Kwang-Tae Kim

Obama Team Might Speed Up Disassembly of Older Nuclear Warheads
GSN by Elaine M. Grossman

India moves on U.S. nuclear deal with new law
Reuters by Krittivas Mukherjee

EAST ASIA
1. NKorea vows to bolster nuclear deterrent
AP by Kwang-Tae Kim
North Korea vowed Tuesday to strengthen its nuclear deterrent and its means of delivery — an apparent reference to missiles — days after threatening rival South Korea and U.S. forces with attack if they conduct military exercises as planned next week.

2. N. Korea warns U.S.-S. Korea military drill impedes denuclearization 
Yonhap
North Korea warned Tuesday efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula would remain in limbo if South Korea and the United States go ahead with their joint military drill next week.

MIDDLE EAST
3. New Momentum for Iran Sanctions
WSJ by David Crawford
The new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran isn't cooperating with U.N. inspectors, and Russia appeared to move closer to supporting sanctions, adding momentum to efforts at the U.N. Security Council to pressure Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.

4. Russia moves closer to Iran sanctions over nukes
AP by George Jahn
Russia's president said Moscow was ready to consider new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear defiance on Monday and the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that he cannot confirm that all of Tehran's atomic activities are peaceful.

5. Clinton appears to extend timeline for Iran sanctions
AFP by Lachlan Carmichael
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday it could take months for new UN sanctions against Iran, as she prepared for talks in Argentina and Brazil about the perceived Iranian nuclear threat.

6. China sticks to diplomatic approach on Iran
Reuters by Chris Buckley
China stood its ground that diplomacy was the best way to resolve the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, as U.S. diplomats arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks on Tehran and North Korea's atomic ambitions.

7. Japan Proposes to Supply N. Fuel to Iran
Fars News Agency
Japan offered to provide Iran with uranium batches enriched to the purity level of 20% to be used in the Tehran research reactor, a senior Iranian legislator announced on Monday.

8. Iran Could Face Expanded Sea-Based Checks, Official Says
GSN
The United States is weighing various options for intercepting sea-based cargo entering or leaving Iran in a potential bid to further pressure the Middle Eastern state to halt controversial aspects of its nuclear program, Defense News reported today (see GSN, Feb. 26).

SOUTH ASIA
9. India moves on U.S. nuclear deal with new law
Reuters by Krittivas Mukherjee
India's parliament will debate over the next month a new law to limit nuclear firms' liability in the case of industrial accidents, a move crucial for U.S. firms to tap into India's estimated $150 billion nuclear market.

10. No nuclear deal with Pakistan, says US
Dawn by Anwar Iqbal
The Obama administration has told Pakistan it would not get an atomic power plant or a civilian nuclear deal from the United States.

RUSSIA/FSU/EUROPE
11. Medvedev hopes for START successor deal soon
Reuters by Denis Dyomkin
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday he hopes for agreement very soon on a nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States.

MULTILATERAL ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION

U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS STRATEGY AND POLICY
12. Obama Team Might Speed Up Disassembly of Older Nuclear Warheads
GSN by Elaine M. Grossman
In a new initiative, the United States is likely to step up the rate at which it dismantles older nuclear warheads no longer deployed in the arsenal, officials and experts tell Global Security Newswire (see GSN, Feb. 22).

13. U.S. Needs to Develop Nuke, "Dirty Bomb" Recovery Plan, GAO Finds
GSN
The U.S. Homeland Security Department has not met an executive mandate to produce a national recovery plan to deal with the lingering effects of a terrorist assault involving a radiological "dirty bomb" or a crude nuclear device, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Friday (see GSN, Jan. 25).
 
OPINIONS
14. Thinking About the Unthinkable: A U.S.-Iranian Deal
Stratfor by George Friedman
The United States apparently has reached the point where it must either accept that Iran will develop nuclear weapons at some point if it wishes, or take military action to prevent this. There is a third strategy, however: Washington can seek to redefine the Iranian question.

15. Nuclear weapons worries: Is threat of Iran sanctions making Tehran testy with Europe?
CSM by Howard LaFranchi
The West’s drive for tougher sanctions on Iran – and in particular for measures targeting Iran’s Revolutionary Guards – appears to be hitting a nerve in Tehran.

16. Bombs Away: Removing Tactical Nukes from Europe 
World Politics Review by Johan Bergenäs
With the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference around the corner, President Barack Obama is in dire need of a credible arms control and disarmament achievement worthy of the lofty agenda he articulated almost a year ago in Prague. Although Obama's higher-profile disarmament goals remain out of reach for now, he could still arrive at the upcoming New York meeting with just such an achievement in hand: ridding Europe of U.S. nuclear weapons. But to do so, he will have to reject flawed and outdated arguments that stand in the way.

17. Living up to nuclear expectations
Guardian by Julian Borger
The much-delayed Nuclear Posture Review was due out today. It had previously been expected on December 1, and then February 1. Now the talk is of late March or even early April - perhaps April 5, to mark the first anniversary of Barack Obama's landmark speech last year in Prague.