Nuclear Developments This Week
Experts Available for Comment

Week of March 14-18, 2011

Experts from the Global Security Institute and its family of programs—the Middle Powers Initiative, the Bipartisan Security Group and Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament—are available to respond immediately to significant developments relating to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.

1. Nuclear Crisis in Japan
The ongoing catastrophe in Japan is a warning signal to the world to abandon the 20th century pursuit of such nuclear ventures. GSI President Jonathan Granoff and Senior Officer Rhianna Tyson Kreger offer a fresh perspective on the Japanese crisis and the lessons to learn from it, and they're not technological fixes.

Meanwhile, the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) continues to offer invaluable assistance in detecting radiation levels, earthquake aftershocks and more. MPI Chairman Ambassador Richard Butler, the former head of the UN Special Commission to Disarm Iraq, has insight.

And on the ground in Tokyo is Hiro Umebayashi, PNND Northeast Asian Coordinator and the Director of the well-respected nuclear policy think-tank, Peace Depot.

Contact:
• Jonathan Granoff, GSI President: (484) 620-4967
• Rhianna Tyson Kreger, GSI Senior Officer: (347) 461-7901
• Ambassador Richard Butler, MPI Chairman: (646) 468-6299
• Hiro Umebayashi, PNND Northeast Asian Coordinator (Tokyo): +81 455 635 101

2. Nuclear weapons spending in the US
The crisis in Japan is leading some in the United States to question the wisdom of spending $200 billion dollars on nuclear weapon systems, when their potential use-- by accident or intent-- would have calamitous repercussions worldwide. For questions regarding US spending on nuclear weapons, contact:
• Ambassador Robert Grey, Jr., Director, Bipartisan Security Group: (202) 543-9017
• Kevin Davis, Program Associate, Bipartisan Security Group: (202) 251-8294
• Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA), PNND Council Member: (202) 225-2836

3. UK to unveil Trident replacement
The British government is expected to release its plan to update its nuclear weapon system, the Trident. British and Scottish parliamentarian members of PNND are available to comment.

Contact:
• Rob van Riet , PNND UK Coordinator: +44 770 736-2503
• Baronness Sue Miller, PNND Co-President: +20 7219 6042
• Jeremy Corbyn, MP, Parliamentary section of CND:+20 7219 3545
• Bill Kidd MSP, PNND Council member: +141 202 0677

4. WMD at risk in Libya?
Fourteen metric tons of mustard gas remain in Libya, and while the Libyan envoy to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons assured the international body that its stockpile of chemical weapons is secure, there remain concerns over the possible use of chemical weapons by the Qaddafi regime. Such a scenario highlights why a universal, legally-binding and technologically verifiable regime outlawing all weapons of mass destruction is necessary.

For comment:
• Ambassador Richard Butler AC, Middle Powers Initiative Chairman, former head of the UN Special Commission to Disarm Iraq

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