By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA (IDN) — Let me start with giving the “bottom line” of this assessment. While many well-meaning experts have written legal, policy and technical tomes on how to verify naval nuclear fuel and to convert such fuel from weapon-grade highly-enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU); the unfortunate reality remains that […]
Achieving The Possible Against the Odds: “A Middle East Nuclear and WMD Free Zone”
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf[1] VIENNA (IDN) — In normal times, the second session of the “United Nations Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction”, scheduled to take place from 29 November to 3 December 2021, would have been an in-person event at the […]
Australia Censured For ‘Abandoning’ Pacific Nuclear-Free Pact
By Asia Pacific Report Newsdesk SUVA (IDN) — Australia needs to be put on notice by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders over abandoning its commitments under the South Pacific’s nuclear free accord— he Treaty of Rarotonga—by signing up to the controversial security pact, AUKUS, says the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG). The deal by the […]
North Korea Flexes its Nuclear Muscles – and Defies the Western World
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) – North Korea, long dubbed as a “hermit kingdom” has continued to remain cut off from the rest of the world—politically, economically and geographically. But neither rigid sanctions, nor international isolation and growing food insecurities, have prevented the country—officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)—from making […]
Australia’s Nuclear-Powered Submarines Will Risk Opening a Pandora’s Box of Proliferation
Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. VIENNA (IDN) — After first suffering a seeming “brain snap” to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) some years back, at long last Australia has been promised a fleet of eight SSNs by the Biden […]
UN Warned of an Impending Threat from a Climate-Nuclear Nexus
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — When the United Nations hosted a high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament on September 28, the annual event was characterized by one underlying fact: the participation for the first time of young climate activists who warned of an impending threat from a Climate-Nuclear nexus.
Two Tracks Out of North Korean Nuclear Crisis
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — On September 15 news broke that North Korea had test-fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast. On the same day, South Korea announced it had successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile. The dangerous arms race between the contestants in what is in effect a civil war […]
Climate Change & No-First-Use Key Issues for The International Day for Nuclear Abolition
By Alyn Ware Alyn Ware is Member of the World Future Council and Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. PRAGUE (IDN) — The global push for nuclear armed countries to adopt no-first-use policies, and the connections between climate change and the threat from nuclear weapons, have emerged as key issues for the […]
2021 International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
By Tariq Rauf Tariq Rauf, board member of Atomic Reporters, was formerly Head of Verification and Security Policy Coordination, Office reporting to the Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency. Personal views are expressed here. VIENNA (IDN) — The commemoration of the 2021 International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, takes place at a […]
A US-UK Submarine Deal Triggers Nuclear Fears Down Under
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — A tripartite deal, under which the US and UK have joined hands, to provide a nuclear-powered submarine to Australia (AUKUS) has prompted anti-nuclear activists to express fears it may eventually lead to a new nuclear power in the region. The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the […]