Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 11. Oktober 2005 / Time Line October 11, 2005
Version 3.510. Oktober 2005, 12. Oktober 2005
10/11/2005
Nuclear Deterrence Theorist Wins Nobel Prize
GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE
A retired University of Maryland professor won the Nobel Prize in
economics yesterday for his work in applying game theory to a
number of complex international issues, including nuclear
deterrence and arms control.
Thomas Schelling “had a profound impact on military theorists
and practitioners in the Cold War era, played a major role in
establishing ‘strategic studies’ as an academic field
of study and may well have contributed significantly to deterrence
and disarmament among the superpowers,” said the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences in describing his accomplishments.
He shared the award with Robert Aumann of the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem.
The two described the idea that adversaries could avoid conflict by
establishing credible counterstrike capabilities. Such theories of
deterrence helped to prevent a nuclear exchange during the Cold
War, according to the Washington Post.
10/11/2005
Kazakhstan Eliminates Nuclear Weapon-Usable Uranium
GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE
Kazakhstan has nearly completed a project to eliminate tons of
nuclear weapon-usable uranium by converting the material into fuel
for nuclear power plants, officials announced Saturday.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan found itself
with a variety of nuclear weapons and facilities. More than 1,400
nuclear warheads were returned to Russia in the early 1990s, but
tons of highly enriched uranium have remained in the country,
creating a potential target for terrorists seeking nuclear
weapons.
To address the risk, Kazakhstan moved 2,900 kilograms of fresh
reactor fuel, containing as much as 26 percent of the weapon-usable
isotope U-235, to a facility where technicians have begun to blend
the material down into lower concentrations that can be used for
civilian power reactors. The highly enriched uranium contained
enough material for as many as two dozen nuclear weapons, according
to a press release.
The down-blending process began early this year and is expected to
be completed by January.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative shared the $2 million cost with
Kazakhstan’s nuclear agency and the International Atomic
Energy Agency has supervised the process, according to a press
release (Nuclear Threat Initiative release, Oct. 8).
10/11/2005
U.S. Nuclear Programs Behind Schedule, Over Budget
GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE
Several U.S. Energy Department nuclear programs are significantly
behind schedule and over budget, the Albuquerque Journal reported
Sunday.
The National Ignition Facility, meant to simulate conditions within
a nuclear weapon as it detonates, was supposed to cost $1.1 billion
and be finished in 2002.
Instead, the project at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in California is now budgeted at $3.4 billion and is due for
completion no earlier than 2008, the Journal reported.
Laboratory spokesman Bob Hirschfeld said the problem arose because
scientists were working on something completely new. “Nobody
had ever done this before,” he said.
The laboratory has successfully stuck to a budget and schedule
developed in 2000, Hirschfeld said. Critics, however, argue that
some funding for the project has been hidden in other DOE budget
areas, and that the National Ignition Facility will ultimately cost
more than $5 billion.
The facility was due to attain nuclear fusion capability in 2010.
The Energy Department last year pushed that back to 2014, but
reinstated the earlier date after coming under fire for the delay,
according to the Journal.
Cost estimates for the DOE Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrotest
Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico are 10
times higher than originally planned.
The facility has yet to fully achieve its planned function of
producing three-dimensional X-Ray images of exploding nuclear
weapons components. An unfinished machine has been conducting some
work, which helps test the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
The full facility is set to be finished by 2008.
A 1998 design change contributed to the delay and cost hike,
laboratory officials have said.
Design of a new nuclear trigger — or pit — at Los
Alamos has also been troubled, the Journal reported. The laboratory
had hoped to be producing up to 50 annually by 2003. The date to
make 10 pits per year is now set at 2008.
The project was supposed to cost $310 million, but is now estimated
at $1.7 billion (John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal, Oct. 9).
Meanwhile, the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee has
maintained uranium processing research despite a 2003 explosion
that occurred during the work, the Associated Press reported
yesterday.
The explosion caused no injuries, but contaminated a laboratory and
exposed several workers to radiation. Contractor BWXT was
subsequently fined $82,500.
The facility is now using different equipment for testing of the
saltless direct oxide reduction process, the Knoxville News
Sentinel reported.
“We are still investigating the process after having
redesigned, basically from the ground up, the part of the process
that had the problem,” said Y-12 spokesman Bill Wilburn.
“That portion was torn down and examined and redesigned,
incorporating lessons learned from the event” (Associated
Press/The Tennsessean, Oct. 10).
 |
 |
10/11/2005
UK Completes Successful Test Launch of Trident Missile
-- The first of the UK's Trident submarines, HMS VANGUARD, which is
part of the UK's nuclear deterrent, successfully launched an
unarmed Trident II D5 ballistic missile during a naval exercise in
the Atlantic Ocean yesterday.
HMS VANGUARD has recently completed a period of routine
maintenance. This test launch is the final part of trials prior to
her return to operational service. Admiral Sir Alan West, the First
Sea Lord, who was on HMS VANGUARD as an observer during the
exercise, said: "I am pleased to report that HMS Vanguard's test
firing has been a success. While this is very much business as
usual for the Royal Navy, this firing demonstrates that the UK's
nuclear deterrent remains highly effective and capable and that the
boat's crew have met the stringent safety requirements for
handling, maintaining and operating the system. HMS Vanguard will
shortly be ready to take over duty on operational deployment.
Kilde:
http://www.news.mod.uk/news_headline_story2.asp?newsItem_id=3620
10/11/2005
Russia Tests Submarine-Launched Missile
GLOBAL SECURITY NEWSWIRE
Russia over the weekend tested a submarine-launched ballistic
missile, and is planning to test a silo-based missile before the
end of October, ITAR-Tass reported (see GSN, Sept. 28).
A submerged submarine launched the RSM-54 missile, which flew more
than 6,000 kilometers and hit a target at the Kura training range
in Kamchatka. “This is the sixth sea-based ICBM launch this
year,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
A land-based ICBM is to be test-fired this month from the Baikonur
space center, ITAR-Tass reported. “The ICBM is in one of the
silos at the cosmodrome. Strategic rocket crews are checking the
missile and the launching system,” an official said
(ITAR-Tass, Oct. 10).
10/11/2005
CONTRACTS from the United States Department of Defense
Lockheed Martin Inc., Liverpool, N.Y. is being awarded a
$89,000,000 firm-fixed price contract to provide for six Air
Navigation/Transportable Primary Secondary L-Band, phased array,
solid-state radar systems with spares, radomes, diesel engine
generators, operator/maintenance training, and 12 months' technical
support. This effort support foreign military sales to Pakistan.
Total funds have been obligated. This work will be complete by
September 2009. Solicitations began in March 2005 and one proposal
was received. Negotiations were complete September 2005. The
Headquarters Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom Air Force Base,
Mass., is the contracting activity (FA8720-05-C-0002).
Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Arlington, Va., was awarded on
Sept. 30, 2005, $33,565,296 for modification P0009 to Task Order
0017 under a cost reimbursement, indefinite-
delivery/indefinite-quantity emergency construction capabilities
contract for Hurricane Katrina stabilization and recovery at Naval
Air Station (NAS) Pascagoula, NAS Gulfport, Stennis Space Center
and other Navy installations in the Southeast Region. The work to
be performed provides for re-construction, re-roofing of most
buildings, barracks, debris removal from the entire base, water
mitigation, mold mitigation, interior and exterior repairs to most
buildings, waste treatment plants, and all incidental related work.
Award of this modification brings the total task order amount to
$61,340,466. Work will be performed in the areas noted above, and
is expected to be completed by September 2007. Contract funds will
expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The basic contract
was competitively negotiated with 59 offers solicited, three
proposals received and award made on July 26, 2004._ _ The total
contract amount is not to exceed $500,000,000, which includes the
base period and four option years. The Naval Facilities Engineering
Command, Southern Division, North Charleston, S.C., is the
contracting activity (N62470-04-D-4017).
Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Arlington, Va., was awarded Oct.
7, 2005, a $10,000,000 modification to Task Order 0016 under a cost
reimbursement, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity emergency
construction capabilities contract (N62470-04-D-4017) for Hurricane
Katrina stabilization and recovery at Naval Support Activity (NSA)
New Orleans, Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans, and other Navy
installations in the South Region. The work to be performed
provides for re-construction, including re-roofing of most
buildings, barracks, debris removal from the entire base, water
mitigation, mold mitigation, interior and exterior repairs to most
buildings, waste water treatment plants and all incidental related
work. Award of this modification brings the total task order amount
to $43,361,021. Work will be performed in New Orleans, La., and
other Navy installations in the South Region, and is expected to be
completed by September 2007. Contract funds will expire at the end
of the current fiscal year. The basic contract was competitively
procured with 59 proposals solicited, three offers received and
award made on July 26, 2004._ _ The total contract amount is not to
exceed $500,000,000, which includes the base period and four option
years. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southern Division,
North Charleston, S.C., is the contracting activity (Mod
P0011).
 |
 |