WMD Archive

Last week’s London Sunday Times exposé “Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran” has set the media buzzing. Given the probable source for the thrust of the article — the senior Israeli military — this is not surprising. But what underlies the furor is the disconcerting reality and approaching menace of the first “in anger” nuclear strike since 1945. The Sunday Times article itself was almost a re-run of the paper’s March 13, 2005, “Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear Plant.” (URL for link) Both were written by the same journalist, but with one notable difference: the latter suggested […]

Recent prominent changes in the Bush administration’s war leaders and Iraq policy have overshadowed an important personnel shift in the Department of Energy (DOE). On Jan. 4, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced his decision to dismiss Ambassador Linton Brooks as head of the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Congress established the NNSA in 2000 as a semi-autonomous agency within the DOE charged with managing the use of U.S. nuclear energy for military purposes. Its responsibilities include maintaining the safety, security, and reliability of U.S. nuclear weapons, countering nuclear proliferation, developing nuclear propulsion systems for the U.S. Navy, and responding […]

At a Dec. 16, 2006, meeting in Beijing, the Chinese government awarded U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Corporation a multi-billion dollar contract to supply China with its next generation of nuclear reactors. The Westinghouse deal represents the single largest international nuclear power transaction in history. During the next few months, the two countries will negotiate a framework agreement to govern the sale. After that, Westinghouse and China National Nuclear will sign a detailed sales contract for the four 1,000-megawatt reactors. Chinese and American companies will build two of the four reactor units at Sanmen in Zhejiang Province and two at Yangjiang in […]