Iran
Iranian Decision to Convert 20% Uranium May Be Good News
Jonathan Tirone, Bloomberg – June 5, 2012
Iran’s decision to convert a third of its higher-enriched uranium into metal plates will make it more difficult for the Persian Gulf country to assemble an atomic weapon if it decides to to so, nuclear-security analysts say.
US to Iran: Allow IAEA probe of alleged nuke site
George Jahn, AP – June 5, 2012
U.S. envoy Robert Wood spoke to the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency as it turned its attention to Iran’s nuclear program and concerns it could be turned into making weapons. He challenged Iran on Tuesday to disprove suspicions it had worked to develop nuclear arms by throwing open a military site to U.N. inspection. He also urged Tehran to curb uranium enrichment, noting that — with further work — the material it has already amassed would be enough for use in several atomic bombs.
U.S. Has Iran War Options, Former Policy Chief Says
Barbara Opall-Rome, Source – June 4, 2012
U.S. war planners have developed “a viable contingency” for Iran that U.S. President Barack Obama will not hesitate to authorize if the military option is the only way to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, according to a former senior Pentagon official. In two separate addresses at a prestigious policy conference here, Michèle Flournoy, former U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy, publicly cautioned Israel against the destabilizing and delegitimizing effects of a premature, unilateral strike on Iran.
North Korea
China says it’s working to restart N. Korea talks
AP – June 5, 2012
China’s United Nations (UN) ambassador says his government has been working very hard to restart six-nation negotiations on North Korea’s nuclear program.
U.S. General in South Korea to Be Replaced After Spy Report
Choe Sang-Hun, Source – June 5, 2012
The Pentagon announced the replacement of the commander of United States Special Operations in South Korea after a news media report quoted him as saying that American and South Korean troops had been parachuting into North Korea on spy missions, a statement denied by Washington and the government in Seoul. The American military in Seoul said Brig. Gen. Neil H. Tolley’s departure from the job he held since October 2010 had nothing to do with the media report.
Defense Spending
Lab Directors Urged Plutonium Facility Delay: Former White House Aide
Elaine Grossman, NTI – June 5, 2012
A former White House aide on Monday said the directors of the U.S. national laboratories “came forward” during closed-door budget-planning sessions five months ago to propose a delay in building a plutonium research facility, a plan that has since drawn Republican fire. Lawmakers have taken great interest in what heads of the three main laboratories — Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia — think about the ramifications of delaying work on the $6 billion Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement plant because these institutions play a key role in overseeing the nuclear arsenal.
Study: Government Low-Balls Cost of Nuclear Fleet
John Bennett, US News and World Report – June 5, 2012
The federal government is low when calculating the amount it spends on the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal, says a new report, and several longtime atomic arms analysts say government officials have no clue how much the world’s most lethal weapons really cost.
