Roots of Nuclear Proliferation
Tuesday May 30, 2006
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Adnan Gill
gill_adnan@hotmail.com
Every time an atom of uranium or plutonium finds its way to the core of nuclear weapon, angels of ââ¬ÅManhattan Projectââ¬Â ring a bell in Los Alamos. The bells have not rung so often and so loud since the Cold-War ended. Any nation that feels insecure or craves recognition pays homage to these angels. Emperor Hirohito dreamt of it, Hitler strived for it, but it was the American President Harry Truman who on July 16, 1945 set the nuclear genie loose in the deserts of Los Alamos.
Nuclear proliferation was born with the first set of American nuclear weapons. The US launched the practice by gifting it to the UK and France. French passed the nuclear technology to Israel and India. The rogue (socialist) elements in the UK and US exported the same technology to the Soviet Union, which in turn gave it away to countries like China and India. China in kind, passed it to Pakistan who is said to have kept the tradition alive by passing it on to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Israel did its part by bringing South Africa and Brazil onboard, as India lovingly took Iraq, Vietnam, South Korea and especially Iran under its wings.
On May, 02, 2006, Pakistan announced an end to investigations surrounding the leaking of nuclear secrets by the Pakistani nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tasnim Aslam announced, ââ¬Å[as far Pakistan is] concerned this chapter is closed.ââ¬Â With these words Pakistan sent a strong message to the world community.
Multifold message was loud and clear:
1. We are displeased and disappointed with the US for rewarding India by signing a discriminatory Indo-US nuclear deal despite Indiaââ¬â¢s disreputable proliferation and dismal nuclear safety record.
2. We disapprove the American strategy of propping up India as the regional policeman.
3. Instead of winning friends for our full cooperation to the US and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in dismantling the so-called A.Q. proliferation network Pakistan is being unwarrantedly cornered; therefore Pakistan will protect its strategic interests first and foremost by putting an end to the witch hunt of its nuclear scientists whose efforts and sacrifices significantly improved Pakistanââ¬â¢s security.
The US proliferation started when it trained the foreign scientists from Britain, Canada and France in the art of "Atomic Bomb" making during the Manhattan project. In an effort to contain communism before it could find its way out of the Soviet Union the US started to pass on nuclear technology to its friends under the garb of the "Atoms for Peace" program. To this day the world has not been able to recover from this massive US proliferation.
Though the United States merits the dubious distinction of being the original proliferator, it was soon joined by a host of other wannabes. Following is a brief history of global proliferation, the actors involved and the end results.
Soviet Union: Great Soviet minds such as Yakov Zelââ¬â¢dovich and Yuli Khariton were tinkering with the nuclear technology, but it took no less than complete designs and data of American nuclear weapons supplied by the "Atom Spies" like Klaus Fuchs and Rosenbergs to detonate USSRââ¬â¢s first nuclear device. The USSR detonated its first nuclear device on 29 August 1949.
Britain: The British program directly benefited from the American Manhattan Project when its scientists like Geoffrey I. Taylor and William G. Penney were sent to Los Alamos under the cover of 1943 Quebec Agreement. These scientists became the nucleus for the British post-war atomic weapons development efforts. Under the Quebec Agreement, Canada supplied plutonium for the first British nuclear device (codenamed Hurricane). Britain detonated its first device on 15 September 1952.
France: The French scientists like Dr. Bertrand Goldschmitt also worked with the Anglo-Canadian team on the Manhattan Project. After the war, he continued the weapons work in France. First French nuclear test, codenamed
Gerboise Bleue, was conducted on 13 February 1960 at Reggane in Algeria.
China: China made tremendous gains from the Soviet proliferation. In 1951 Peking signed a secret agreement with Moscow through which China received nuclear assistance in exchange for uranium ores. In 1957, China and USSR signed an agreement on new technology for national defense, which included additional Soviet nuclear assistance. The Soviets also supplied China with a major gaseous diffusion facility to enrich uranium. Chinaââ¬â¢s first nuclear test was conducted at Lop Nor on 16 October 1964.
India: India is a prime example of American-initiated nuclear proliferation through the ââ¬ÅAtoms for Peaceââ¬Â program. During the 1950s and then in 1960s the US and Canada helped India to lay the foundation of its nuclear weapons technology. In 1956, Canada built 40 megawatt Canada-India Reactor, US (CIRUS) in India. The US supplied heavy water for it. This reactor later became the source of plutonium for Indiaââ¬â¢s nuclear devices tested in 1974 and 1998.
In 1963 India ordered two 210-megawatt reactors from General Electric. India received its first heavy water production plant from Germany in 1962 and then built additional seven heavy water plants with help of France and Switzerland. Later on in the 80s Norway and Soviet Union became the major suppliers of heavy water for Indiaââ¬â¢s unsafeguarded nuclear plants through a German middleman named Alfred Hempel (a former Nazi who shipped tons of heavy water via Dubai). In 1965, the Britain established Gauribidnur Seismic Station at BARC, which was used to develop and calibrate fast-slow explosive lenses used in 1974 nuclear device. In 1969, 30 Indian nuclear scientists, engineers, and technicians traveled to France for training and subsequent work on the designs of its fast breeder reactor. In 1974, Canada agreed to provide India blueprints for its CANDU reactor. The blueprints enabled India to build its first reactor in Rajasthan. Canada also funded the project by extending a $37 million loan. In the 70s, theUSSR assumed the role of main supplier of heavy water and nuclear technology to India. During the 80s, India clandestinely acquired and developed centrifuge technology from the USSR and built uranium enrichment plants at Trombay and Mysore. This clandestine supply enabled the Indians to use reactors like Dhruva to create plutonium for its atomic weapons program.India clandestinely acquired and developed centrifuge technology from the USSR and built uranium enrichment plants at Trombay and Mysore. This clandestine supply enabled the Indians to use reactors like Dhruva to create plutonium for its atomic weapons program.
Ironically, Indian nuclear program is also a partner of the A.Q. Khan network. According to South African court documents, in the late 1980s and early 90s, the network organized the production and delivery of flow meter units for Indiaââ¬â¢s gas centrifuge program. The network provided additional sensitive items to the Indian program, including feed and withdrawal equipment for centrifuge cascades.
In January 1996, in a barefaced show of defiance of a "Nuclear Suppliers Group" ban, Moscow and New Delhi, reached an agreement to build two Russian nuclear reactors at Kudankalam in Tamil Nadu. Not to be left behind, in March 2006, President Bush also signed a nuclear corporation deal with India which will vastly enhance Indian ability to manufacture about 50 nuclear weapons per year.
India conducted its first so-called "peaceful nuclear explosion," on 18 May 1974.