FRANCE
1 dead in blast at French nuclear plant, but no leak reported
Douglas Stanglin, USA Today — September 12, 2011
The French nuclear safety body says an explosion has rocked a nuclear plant in southern France, the Associated Press reports. French media report at least one death, but no immediate radioactive leakage to the outside.

Explosion at French Nuclear-Waste Plant Leaves One Dead, 4 Hurt
Tara Patel, Blloomberg — September 12, 2011
An explosion at a nuclear-waste plant in the south of France left one person dead and four people injured, according to Electricite de France, which operates the site.

UNITED STATES
Bob Woodward: George W. Bush ‘rolled his eyes” at Dick Cheney
Tim Mak, Politico — September 12, 2011  
President George W. Bush “rolled his eyes” when Vice President Dick Cheney signaled his interest in bombing a Syrian nuclear plant at a key meeting of White House advisers, Bob Woodward writes in Monday’s Washington Post.

Cheney: Nuclear Terrorism Is ‘Most Dangerous Threat’ We Face
Bridget Johnson, Enterprise Journal — September 9, 2011
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said that the “most dangerous threat” we face is nuclear materials falling into the hands of terrorists.

IRAN
Israel: Decade after 9/11, Iran must not get nukes
MSNBC — September 11, 2011
JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister says a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks, Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped and that the possibility of extremists getting atomic weapons is a real threat.

Iran offers fresh nuclear talks with EU
Reuters — September 11, 2011
Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili has written to the European Union foreign affairs chief to announce the Islamic state’s readiness for fresh nuclear talks with major powers, the foreign minister said on Sunday.

NORTH KOREA
Scientist: NKorea likely to test nukes again
George Jahn, The Associated Press — September 10, 2011
A U.S. scientist who visited a secret North Korean nuclear site last year says Pyongyang may seek to launch a third atomic test to enable it to develop a small fissile warhead that can be carried by a missile.

WFP captures heartbreak of North Korean hunger
Paula Hancocks, CNN — September 12, 2011
A four-year-old boy looks straight into the camera. His eyes are dull, his tiny legs crossed underneath him. Choi is an orphan, severely malnourished and too weak to stand.

“The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world’s most dangerous terrorists acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons….Our report shows that al Qaeda has tried to acquire or make weapons of mass destruction for at least ten years. There is no doubt the United States would be a prime target. Preventing the proliferation of these weapons warrants a maximum effort—by strengthening counter proliferation efforts, expanding the Proliferation Security Initiative, and supporting the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.”

IRAN
West Keep’s Pressure On Iran’s Nuclear Program
Margaret Besheer, Voice of America — September 07, 2011
Western nations on Wednesday warned that they will not let up their pressure on Iran to comply with international demands that it suspend its nuclear enrichment activities and answer questions about its disputed atomic program.

In shift, Iran’s President Calls for End to Syrian Crackdown
Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times — September 8, 2011
For years, posters celebrating the decades-old alliance joining Syria and Iran festooned the streets and automobiles of the Syrian capital — the images of Presidents Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embroidered with roses and daffodils.

NORTH KOREA
North Korea leader Kim Jong-il appears with Kim Jong-un
BBC News — September 09, 2011
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il has appeared at national celebrations with his son and heir apparent Kim Jong-un.

North Korea Problem “Very Tough,” Obama Nominee Says
Global Security Newswire — September 8, 2011
The Obama administration’s nominee to assume a top spot at the State Department on Wednesday said Washington has “no good choices” in resolving the long-running standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons work, Agence France-Presse reported.

UNITED STATES
GAO Seeks Closer Tracking of U.S. Atomic Assets in Other Nations
Global Security Newswire — September 09, 2011
The United States lacks terms in its atomic trade agreements or any other procedures to enable comprehensive tracking of sensitive materials delivered to other countries, and lawmakers should consider steps to address the matter, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report published on Thursday.

Securing nuke materials was DOE’s top priority on 9/11
Frank Munger, The Knoxville News Sentinel — September 09, 2011
As it became obvious that the morning events of Sept. 11, 2001, were the work of terrorists, the U.S. Department of Energy moved urgently to protect the nation’s nuclear materials — some of which were aboard trucks crisscrossing American highways.

How Sept. 11 Changed the Nuclear Industry
Olga Belogolova, The National Journal — September 08, 2011
When the first plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Jerry Davis was on his way to work at the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Somervell County, Texas.
As events unfolded that morning, Davis and his colleagues at the nuclear facility huddled around computers monitoring news coverage. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening out there.’”

IRAQ
Army Chief Warns of Keeping Too Many U.S. Troops in Iraq
Justin Fishel, Fox News — September 08, 2011
The new Army Chief of Staff, Gen Ray Odierno, said on his second day on the job that he doesn’t know what number of troops should remain in Iraq after 2011, but he warns there are risks to leaving too large a force.

IRAN
Russia Says No Plans To Build Nuclear Power Stations in Iran After Bushehr
Henry Meyer, Bloomberg — September 7, 2011
Russia isn’t currently planning to build any new nuclear stations in Iran after operations start at the Persian Gulf state’s first atomic plant in Bushehr, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.

Editorial: The undimmed danger of Iran’s nuclear program
The Washington Post — September 6, 2011
IRAN HAS TAKEN two more steps toward producing a nuclear weapon. According to a report released Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has begun to use a new, more advanced centrifuge to enrich uranium, which could allow it to produce bomb-grade material in a much shorter time period, should it choose to do so.

NORTH KOREA
Why Thailand has become a popular path to freedom for North Korean defectors
Jared Ferrie, Christian Science Monitor — September 7, 2011
A growing number of North Korean defectors are crossing illegally into Thailand via a new ‘underground railroad’ because Thailand processes defectors and sends them to South Korea quickly.

North Korea Used Black Market to Acquire Nuke Technology, IAEA says
Global Security Newswire — September 6, 2011
North Korea appears to have employed an illicit network to acquire material needed to establish a uranium enrichment facility at its Yongbyon nuclear complex, the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded in a report issued on Friday.

SYRIA
Franes’s Alain Juppe: Syria committing ‘grave crimes’
BBC News — September 7, 2011
France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has accused the Syrian government of carrying out “crimes against humanity”.

Envoys accuse Syria of reneging on pledge to assist nuke probe
Global Security Newswire — September 6, 2011
yria has broken a pledge to move promptly to assist a U.N. investigation into the nation’s suspected secret nuclear operations, envoys said to the Associated Press on Thursday.

LIBYA
Nations focus on al-Qaida threat in Sahara desert
Aomar Ouali, The Associated Press — September 7, 2011
he foreign ministers of Algeria and other North African nations met Wednesday to discuss how to confront terrorism in the vast desolate regions of the Sahara Desert.  The two-day conference, originally expected to focus just on al-Qaida, has now also become inextricably tied up with the civil war in neighboring Libya, which Algeria says has sent floods of arms across the border into militant hands.

UN watchdog says Libyan chemical weapons secure
The Associated Press — September 7, 2011
The chief of a U.N. watchdog says Libya’s remaining chemical weapon stockpiles are believed to be secure despite the turmoil that has roiled the country since February.

IRAN
Iran Says Nuclear Cooperation Would Have Limits
Voice of America — September 6, 2011
Iran has indicated that an offer that could give United Nations inspectors “full supervision” of Iranian nuclear activities does not include allowing inspections on short notice.

Iran Offers Inspectors ‘Full Supervision’ of Nuclear Program
David Sanger, New York Times — September 5, 2011
Iran on Monday made its first counterproposal in two years to ease the confrontation with the West over its nuclear program, offering to allow international inspectors “full supervision” of the country’s nuclear activities for the next five years, but on the condition that the mounting sanctions against Iran are lifted.

Iran’s Nuclear Program– Deal With It
Madison Schramm, Huffington Post — September 9, 2011
Iran’s nuclear program has been one headache after another for the United States. While proliferation in the Middle East is a legitimate concern, the United States needs to stop wasting precious diplomatic leverage and credibility and face the facts — Iran is headed for nuclear weapons capability.

NORTH KOREA
South Korea buying Israeli rockets to deter North Korea
Sam Kim, Associated Press — September 6, 2011
South Korea has struck a $43 million deal with an Israeli company to buy advanced rockets to protect a front-line area attacked by North Korea last year, officials said Tuesday.  South Korea will deploy 67 Spike NLOS rockets on Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong islands in the Yellow Sea as early as late this year, a South Korean government arms procurement official said. Four South Koreans were killed on Yeonpyeong when the North shelled it last November.

Eager for trade, North Korea looks to China
Alexsa Olsen, Associated Press — September 6, 2011
A paved Chinese highway edged with telecommunications towers and electricity lines comes to a halt at the border with North Korea, giving way to a landscape seemingly frozen in time.  Oxen plow the fields and cooking smoke rises from farmhouses where fish and tobacco are laid out to dry. A scarecrow lists in a sea of bright green rice plants. In the distance, three men on horseback race toward a small village.

LIBYA
Libya’s New Leaders, Town Reach Deal for Peaceful Handover
San Francisco Chronicle, September 5, 2011
Representatives of Libya’s National Transitional Council agreed with tribal elders for the peaceful handover of Bani Walid, where the tribesmen were trying to persuade Muammar Qaddafi’s loyalists to disarm.

Clinton urges Libyan rebels to secure Gadhafi WMD, protect human rights”
The Washington Post — September 1, 2011
Libyan rebels on the verge of driving leader Moammar Gadhafi from power must secure weapons caches amassed by his regime and ensure they are not used to threaten the country’s neighbors, the region or beyond, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday. She also said the fight against the still-defiant Gadhafi must continue.

UNITED STATES
Petreaus sworn in as new CIA chief
Reuters — September 6, 2011
Newly retired General David Petraeus was sworn in as CIA director on Tuesday, taking over at a time when the line between the U.S. spy agency and the military has become increasingly blurred in the fight against Islamist militancy.

Commentary: Kansas City Here it Comes: A Nuclear Weapons Plant!
Lawrence S. WIttner, Huffington Post Blog — September 5, 2011
Should the U.S. government be building more nuclear weapons?  Residents of Kansas City, Missouri don’t appear to think so, for they are engaged in a bitter fight against the construction of a new nuclear weapons plant in their community.