Since very few people wanna follow the twitter feed I set up for this blog, I will discontinue it soon. However, I have now opened “my regular Twitter feed”:https://twitter.com/#!/Pkerr2006 so anyone can follow it. I’ll cross-post blog posts there.

The Czech Republic’s “Security Information Service”:http://www.bis.cz/index_en.html (their counter-intel agency) publishes “English-language reports,”:http://www.bis.cz/annual-report.html some of which contain some non-pro info.

They also contain some other items of interest. For example, the “2006 edition”:http://www.bis.cz/n/ar2006en.pdf has a tale about some individuals who aspired to be Iranian soldiers. According to the report, the Service

bq. registered attempts of some individuals to revitalize the
neo-Nazi environment. The most visible manifestation of such efforts was an application for permission to serve in the Iranian army sent in mid-August 2006 by 41 Czech right-wing extremists to the Office of Czech President.

I do wonder how the Iranians would have responded.

bq. Iranian officials said Wednesday they were increasingly concerned about the United States of America’s uranium-enrichment program, fearing the Western nation may soon be capable of producing its 8,500th nuclear weapon. “Our intelligence estimates indicate that, if it is allowed to progress with its aggressive nuclear program, the United States may soon possess its 8,500th atomic weapon capable of reaching Iran,” said Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, adding that Americans have the fuel, the facilities, and “everything they need” to manufacture even more weapons-grade fissile material. “Obviously, the prospect of this happening is very distressing to Iran and all countries like Iran. After all, the United States is a volatile nation that’s proven it needs little provocation to attack anyone anywhere in the world whom it perceives to be a threat.”

“Where else”:http://www.theonion.com/articles/iran-worried-us-might-be-building-8500th-nuclear-w,27325/? And, yeah, I’m back.

I’ll get back to regular blogging shortly, but for now here’s something way off-topic – the “cue sheet”:http://www.totalwonkerr.net/file_download/26 for the ~ 56-mile “route”:http://www.waba.org/events/2011VasaRide.php of the 2011 Vasaloppet ride in DC. I’m posting it because it’s a great training ride and I’ve had trouble finding the cue sheet in the past.

According to “WABA,”:http://www.waba.org/index.php which co-sponsors the ride with the Swedish Embassy, registration for the 2012 ride opens Jan 24. The ride is typically the first Sunday in March; I imagine that has not changed. I’ve ridden it twice and it’s pretty great. Also, contrary to what some seem to have heard, the ride’s not rough; the only non-pavement portion, as I recall, is a small part of the Georgetown Branch Trail between Bethesda and Jones Mill Road.

That is all.

OK, here’s a song about nuclear war:

Outta town again for a couple of weeks. Back later.

Yeah. Josh Pollack has an excellent “article”:http://www.playboy.com/magazine/the-secret-treachery-of-a-q-khan in the current issue of Playboy (link is pr0n-free) in which he reveals the identity of the fourth country (in addition to Iran, Libya and North Korea) to which AQ Khan provided centrifuge technology: India.

“TMZ”:http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/18/lindsay-lohan-playboy/#.Tu6a5-B-Suv attributes this issue’s rapid sales to the photos of a certain actress, but I think it’s obvious that purchasers are after Josh’s article.

*Update:*

For a primary source, at least on the IAEA’s investigation of the AQK network, check out Olli Heinonen’s comment in “this post”:http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/4905/india-was-khans-fourth-customer#more-2140.

I should write something more intelligent, but…

Definition of megadeath from Collins English Dictionary:

bq. One million deaths. Used as a unit in reference to nuclear warfare.

Something like that was on the back of a Megadeth shirt that I used to have. It may be around somewhere, come to think of it.

If you want a good compilation of IAEA documents about the mid-1990s efforts to improve the safeguards system, you could do worse than “this report”:http://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC39/GC39Documents/English/gc39-17_en.pdf from then-DG Hans Blix to the 1995 IAEA General Conference.

Here’s the table of contents:

bq.. Document GOV/2784: “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system: Programme 93 + 2 – A report by the Director General”

Statement regarding “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system: Programme 93 + 2” made by the Director General in his introductory statement at the March 1995 session of the Board of Governors

Discussion including decision on “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system: Programme 93 + 2 ” at the March 1995 session of the Board of Governors

Document GOV/2807: “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system : Proposals for a strengthened and more efficient safeguards system – A report by the Director General”

Statement regarding “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system: 93 + 2” made by the Director General in his introductory statement at the June 1995 session of the Board of Governors

Discussion including decision on “Strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system: Proposals for strengthened and more efficient safeguards system” at the June 1995 session of the Board of Governors

I’m late to the party on the controversy, but I feel the need to post some primary source documents about the “Treaty of Rarotonga”:http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/spnfz.html#1 and its relevance to the sale of Australian uranium to India.

The issue is that Article 4 of the treaty prohibits states-parties from providing “source or special fissionable material” to ” any non-nuclear-weapon State unless subject to the safeguards required by Article III.1 of the NPT.” The treaty also requires states-parties “to support the continued effectiveness of the international non-proliferation system based on the NPT and the IAEA safeguards system.”

(“h/t ACA”:http://armscontrolnow.org/2011/12/03/australia-part-of-the-nonproliferation-solution-or-part-of-the-problem/#more-2632)

This “CNS piece”:http://cns.miis.edu/stories/pdfs/070827.pdf from a few years back contains original documents with official Australian statements indicating that the SPNFZ Treaty prohibits uranium sales to states without comprehensive safeguards agreements.

I’d be interested to see a counter-argument from the Australian government – I’ve not yet found one.