Nuclear Policy News – April 29, 2011

TOP STORIES

'Turkey snubs US ban on Iran Bank'
Press TV

Pakistan Tests Nuke-Ready Cruise Missile
Global Security Newswire

Syria Was Constructing Nuclear Reactor, IAEA Chief Suggests
Global Security Newswire

China's nuke envoy to visit N. Korea amid nuclear deadlock
Yonhap News Agency

EAST ASIA

Heat, Pressure Drop in Japan Reactor as Flooding Progresses
Global Security Newswire
Heat and pressure decreased in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor as workers pumped in water at a quicker pace, a promising indication for plans to fully flood the ailing system in an effort to prevent further radiation releases, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Thursday (see GSN, April 27).

China's nuke envoy to visit N. Korea amid nuclear deadlock
Yonhap News Agency
INCHEON, April 29 (Yonhap) -- China's chief nuclear envoy said Friday he plans to visit North Korea to coordinate efforts to revive six-party talks on the North, wrapping up a South Korean visit that coincided with a trip to Pyongyang by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

MIDDLE EAST

Syria Was Constructing Nuclear Reactor, IAEA Chief Suggests
Global Security Newswire
Syria was constructing a undisclosed nuclear reactor at the Dair Alzour site bombed by Israel in 2007, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said on Thursday (see GSN, April 5).

SOUTH ASIA

Pakistan Tests Nuke-Ready Cruise Missile
Global Security Newswire
A trial launch of a Pakistani nuclear-capable cruise missile on Friday met military expectations, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported (see GSN, April 21).

RUSSIA/FSU/EUROPE

Germany to Hold Summit on NPT
Global Security Newswire
Germany on Saturday is scheduled to host a meeting of 10 nations committed to enhancing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the German Foreign Ministry announced (see GSN, Sept. 24, 2010).

MULTILATERAL ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION

Turks oppose government nuclear drive
Focus
Ankara. Most Turks oppose their government's drive to develop nuclear power, with 64 percent saying the country is not ready for the technology, according to a poll published Friday, AFP reported.

'Turkey snubs US ban on Iran Bank'
Press TV
Ankara has rebuffed Washington's call to restrict transactions of Iran's Bank Mellat in Turkey, rejecting the unilateral US-EU sanctions against the bank, a report says.

U.S. NUCLEAR POLICY

Air Force Global Strike Command to Oversee Nuke Units
Global Security Newswire
The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday said its established nuclear command is slated in the next year to assume oversight of munitions units involved in managing the nation's nuclear forces (see GSN, Oct. 4, 2010).

OPINIONS

Trimming Nuclear Excess
Arms Control Association by Daryl G. Kimball
In the 20 years since the end of the Cold War, successive U.S. and Russian presidents have gradually reduced the size and salience of their enormous nuclear stockpiles. Nevertheless, the size of each country’s arsenal far exceeds what might be considered necessary to deter nuclear attack. Both sides can and should go lower.

Amid Turmoil, a Nuke-Free Middle East May Be in Jeopardy
IPS by Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 28, 2011 (IPS) - A proposed international conference on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, tentatively scheduled for 2012, may be in jeopardy amid the growing political turmoil sweeping across the Arab world - and Israel's fears of negative fallout on its own security.

Saudi-Iranian Tensions Widening Into Sunni-Shiite Cold War
World Politics Review
The Saudi intervention in Bahrain has upped the ante in the Saudi-Iranian cold war, crystallizing it into a wider Sunni-Shiite schism in the Muslim world. Saudi Arabia has reportedly invoked a treaty with Sunni-dominated Pakistan to secure troops to stabilize both Bahrain and its own oil-rich eastern provinces. Riyadh has also asked Turkey to make it clear to Iran that interference in the Gulf states will not be tolerated. At the other end of the spectrum, Shiites worldwide are enraged at what they see as Western duplicity in not stopping Saudi heavy-handedness in Bahrain, while showing solidarity with anti-regime protestors elsewhere in the Middle East.