President Obama’s Next Nuclear Disarmament Move? Enriched Uranium Handouts

by Marinka Peschmann

President Obama is convening a Global Nuclear Security Summit in Washington beginning on Monday. “The purpose… would be to achieve the highest levels of nuclear security, which the president believes is essential for enhanced international security and for the peaceful development and the global expansion of nuclear energy…” (italics mine)

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How would the peaceful development and the global expansion of nuclear energy be accomplished? By Americans supplying enriched uranium to other countries.

Sound far-fetched? Not if President Obama intends for American to bankroll an international nuclear fuel bank to dissuade countries from building their own uranium enrichment facilities.

We know that the creation of an “international nuclear fuel bank” is a distinct possibility on President Obama’s agenda by reviewing legislation he sponsored and introduced in the Senate during his tenure as a U.S. Senator. According to S. 1977, The Nuclear Weapons Threat Reduction Act of 2007, Obama’s policy would “provide for sustained United States leadership in a cooperative global effort to prevent nuclear terrorism, reduce global nuclear arsenals, stop the spread of nuclear weapons and related material and technology, and support the responsible and peaceful use of nuclear technology.” (Italics mine) Sound familiar?

According to Obama’s S. 1977, the “responsible and peaceful use of nuclear technology” is accomplished by creating an “international fuel bank” at an opening cost of “$50 million to American taxpayers to “support the creation of a low enriched uranium reserve… that would help guarantee the availability of fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.” The reason why Americans would fund enriched uranium handouts to other countries is because Obama presumes his “international fuel bank can play an important role in dissuading countries from building their own uranium enrichment facilities.” This policy, the President evidentially believes in, would serve as an important deterrent.

Who would administer this international nuclear fuel bank? It would not be the United States but the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which is part of the United Nations that “works to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies.”

According to published reports some of the countries that have overtly or inadvertently expressed interest in developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes includes: Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Saudi Arabia has denied having any nuclear energy intentions. Global expansion of nuclear energy would ostensibly be used for powering water desalination plants, or to satisfy growing energy demands, but quietly and significantly, with the growing threat of a nuclear Iran in the region, the reasons may ultimately be for defense purposes.

Critics of what has been described as “enriched uranium diplomacy” argue that the expansion of the nuclear energy industry could inadvertently lead to state proliferation. Others contend that it is too risky to engage in with some countries; especially those with minimal regulatory capabilities or histories that point to nuclear materials and technology smuggling.

To ostensibly safeguard against those dangerous risks, Obama would authorize additional funding for the “IAEA’s Department of Safeguards to improve its ability to conduct effective inspections.” The world has witnessed the IAEA’s effectiveness in dealing with Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs.

Obama would also authorize “to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and $10,000,000 for fiscal years 2009 through 2012, in addition… establish a national technical forensics program to develop the best practicable technologies and procedures for determining the origin of nuclear materials, whether seized while still intact or collected after the detonation of a nuclear bomb (emphasis mine).

Read Obama’s Nuclear Weapons Threat Reduction Act here.

Last week President Obama signed a new START agreement with Russia’s President Dmitri Medvedev that shook up America’s nuclear disarmament policy. Under this new treaty, the United States and Russia have mutually agreed to reduce the number of warheads in their respective arsenals. However, only the United States has promised to freeze its technology. In doing so, the Obama Administration has opened the door for Russia to modernize its way to nuclear dominance. This week it looks like President Obama will shake up America’s nuclear disarmament policy again.

Cross-posted at marinkapeschmann.com.


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Posted Apr 12th 2010 at 7:56 am in Defense, Obama | 107 Comments