Mike B)
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Disarmament has stalled completely. There are no nuclear disarmament negotiations currently under way.
Preventing nuclear proliferation failed in Israel, South Africa, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and almost in Iraq. An extensive international black market has operated in 30 countries, peddling uranium centrifuges and Chinese nuclear weapons designs.
Forty-four countries with nuclear fuel chain capacity have the materials and expertise to produce nuclear weapons if they so chose. As concerns about Iran reveal, nuclear reactors and the nuclear fuel chain inseparably create the capacity for nuclear weapons, whether by enriching uranium beyond reactor grade to bomb grade - the equipment and expertise are identical - or by the relatively simple chemical process of extracting from spent fuel the plutonium inevitably produced. Australia's bilateral 'safeguards' on exported uranium are essentially a toothless, retrospective bookkeeping exercise providing little more than 'an illusion of protection.'
Sensitive nuclear technologies are increasingly widely available. Research and development on laser enrichment of uranium, including in Australia, could make it smaller, cheaper, easier and more concealable to enrich uranium.
full: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2007/1995827.htm#transcript
******************** uvj at vsnl.com posted:
The Hindu http://www.thehindu.com/
Friday, Aug 03, 2007
International
Australia ready to sell uranium http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/03/stories/2007080354421400.htm
P. S. Suryanarayana
By discussing safeguards pact
Pact will be similar to the one we have with China: Downer "India has a strong record in non-proliferation" http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/03/stories/2007080354421400.htm
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