Letter--Russian Highly Enriched Uranium

[DS73]

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=5...1#.T-yDlt0ZvK0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1859560.stm

http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/missi...a-chief-warns/

Apparently Russia lost a lot of nuclear material during the break-up of the Soviet Union. Russian government selling to rogue states? Highly doubt it. Rogue Russian/exRussian generals selling to rogue states? I could see that happening, especially seeing how some generals who found themselves in possession of vast armories with no government liquidated their armaments by selling to other countries/arms dealers to make some money for themselves.

Basically all 3 links are about same old story.
Americans want to have full access to russian nuclear armory. They can try first with french. Or Chinese. It's simply not going to happen.
So far the only probable loss are 5kg of highly inriched uranium given by Georgia to Uzbekistan in 1992. Neither were controlled by Russia at that time, and these 5 kg happen to be outside of military supervision and were property of georgian Academy of Science.

And btw. soviet security system was designed in such way that no general at any moment had access to nuclear arsenal. Party never really trusted them. Russians continue to use it.

[DS73]

Uhuh. Ex-Soviet officials/generals selling weapons to rogue states absolutely unheard of right?

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/01/wo...s-to-iraq.html

http://www.thebulletin.org/web-editi...pons-scientist

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/fea...lverstein.html

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j..._TmfWl7txppybg

It's been documented. In a country as large as the former USSR, do you really think that some people wouldn't take advantage of the given situation?

First case: smuggling of infantry weapons made in Poland, or of soviet made weapons in polish possession by polish officials.

Second: "rogue scientist" who probably has sold schematics of primers and explosive devices to produce diamonds. It's more a case of organisational retardation of modern russian state when they deal with dual use technologies (not the first and certanly not the last case). If I recall well, he went to Iran after having his financial applications denied by american managers. He was ukranian citizen.

Third: infantry weapons smuggling from ex soviet states. What it has to do with russian generals and nuclear weaponry?

Last one is interesting one. The dude which photo you see as HRH avatar was helping "smuggling" infantry and not only weapons to roque georgian regions. The story is pretty much identical to the Iran-Contras affair. The only difference that ones (americans) were buying weapons on the black market, and others (Russia) without extra thoughts made such black market in Chechenia.

Neither of these cases can be relevant to the Nuclear Weapons Complex. Different laws, very different people and working attitude.

[[64]Lynx]

Uhuh. Ex-Soviet officials/generals selling weapons to rogue states absolutely unheard of right?
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/01/wo...s-to-iraq.html

Let's read...

In what American officials described as a strike against a growing worldwide arms bazaar in the former Eastern bloc, an elaborate sting operation has led to the arrests of six former high-ranking Polish Government officials and a California arms dealer accused of plotting to sell nearly $100 million in high-powered rifles and anti-aircraft missiles to Iraq.

Didn't know Poland was the part of Soviet Union...

[artjomh]

People, chill!

On the original news, here's the deal. US Congress loves putting obstacles in front of the administratiOn when they try funding any kind of cooperation with Russia. By declaring this a matter of national emergency, Obama can sidestep the usual red tape and just authorize the program (which is tremendously useful to both US and Russia).

This is bureaucratese, nothing to see here, move along.

[JCR]

I find especially funny that in US legalese you always have to resort to casuistics (buy, sell, lease, use as a alien landing pad, whatever) and name every possibility imaginable to prevent legal loopholes.
And that in a country that has a book called "common sense" as one of its greatest sources of inspiration.
Thomas Paine must be rotating in his grave.

[Arbody]

there have been rumors that several Russian RA-115s(Suit case nukes whose existence is quite dubious) have disappeared during transition of Nuclear Arms

They found them in a stock , just no one knew where they were for more than decade