Burma Secretly Trying To Build Nuclear Weapons, Leaked Docs Show

[Akib]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_600499.html

BANGKOK — Documents smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector indicate its military regime is trying to develop nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, and North Korea is probably assisting the program, an expatriate media group said Friday.

The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma said the defector had been involved in the nuclear program and smuggled out extensive files and photographs describing experiments with uranium and specialized equipment needed to build a nuclear reactor and develop enrichment capabilities.

But the group concluded in a report that Myanmar is still far from producing a nuclear weapon.

On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb announced he was postponing a trip to Myanmar because of new allegations that it was collaborating with North Korea to develop a nuclear program.

Webb, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs, referred to documents provided by a Myanmar army defector.

Myanmar's military government has denied similar allegations in the past, but suspicions have mounted recently that the impoverished Southeast Asian nation has embarked on a nuclear program.

Myanmar's junta, which has been condemned worldwide for its human rights abuses, has no hostile neighbors. The military's prime concern is suppressing dissidents at home and battling several small-scaled insurgencies.

Last month, U.N. experts monitoring sanctions imposed against North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests said their research indicated it was involved in banned nuclear and ballistic missile activities in Iran, Syria and Myanmar, which is also called Burma.

The DVB report said Russia has also trained Myanmar technicians in nuclear and missile technology.

The group, which operates Oslo-based television and radio stations, said the defector, Sai Thein Win, was an army major who was trained in Myanmar as a defense engineer and later in Russia as a missile expert. It said he had access to secret Myanmar nuclear facilities including a nuclear battalion north of Mandalay "charged with building up a nuclear weapons capability."

It said the documents it obtained were examined by Robert Kelley, an American nuclear scientist and former director in the International Atomic Energy Agency who concluded that Myanmar "is probably mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology that is only useful for weapons."

The group said its report was based on a five-year study that indicated that North Korea was involved in assisting the program.

Documents obtained earlier showed that North Korea was helping Myanmar dig a series of underground facilities and develop missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles).

The group said the documents obtained from the defector show a number of components used in nuclear weapons and missile technology, including a missile fuel pump impeller, chemical engineering equipment that can be used to make compounds used in uranium enrichment, and nozzles used to separate uranium isotopes into bomb materials.

"The total picture is very compelling. Burma is trying to build pieces of a nuclear program, specifically a nuclear reactor to make plutonium and a uranium enrichment program," the report said.

Well thats a disturbing relavation from our other neighbour. I mean they aren't even close, but the intention is never good...

And how do they suppress dissidents in their OWN country with the nuke? Are they going to threaten to nuke the dissidents area? Cause that would destroy the junta as well.

[Neel Here]

yet another iraq story.

[HereWeGo]

Originally Posted by Neel Here
yet another iraq story.

I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

ditto

[Blah]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

They won't. At least not unilaterally.

[Neel Here]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

what have the common people of Myanmar done to you ?

[Zunaid]

Originally Posted by Neel Here
what have the common people of Myanmar done to you ?

What has the junta done to the common people is the answer...

[Neel Here]

but if the US does in Myanmar what it did in Iraq, it's the common person who will be the hardest hit. whichever way you put it, US establishment is amazingly callous about human lives outside US and to a certain extent western europe.

[Nafi]

Guys you have to remember that Burma is the only country (other than India) that borders us, that give us free route to China.

Having reasonable relations with them would be advantageous for us.

[Blah]

Relevant

[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

like Burma is not a threat to the US.

in order for full scale invasion (not surgical campaign like 1999 Serbia or present day Pakistan) the country has to be:

a) associated with an islamic terror organization (back in the day it was communism)
b) must be an openly declared enemy
c) must be rich in some resource for corporations to plunder or be of some strategic value

[nasifkhan]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

Does Myanmar have OIL or something else like that US could steal???

[Rabz]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo
I would support wholeheartedly if US does a Iraq with Myanmar.

US wont dare to.
Not in China's doorstep.

The Chinese would eat 'em alive.
Last thing they'd want is another US base bordering them.

[billah]

A nuclear armed Burma is an extremely unlikely scenario. This might just be some cleverly placed propaganda. The long-range missile would be a worry to only Bangladesh. I don't see either plan fitting their possible long-term defense strategy....

[_Rafi_]

So Myanmar joining India and Pakistan. When Bangladesh is going to join with them?

[Nafi]

Originally Posted by _Rafi_
So Myanmar joining India and Pakistan. When Bangladesh is going to join with them?

We're getting nuclear power plants.

[AsifTheManRahman]

Originally Posted by Nafi
We're getting nuclear power plants.

Yeah...and high speed internet.

[Blah]

We are getting nuclear plant by 2014-15. But since Bangladesh and Russia is involved there is a high likelihood that we will end up getting it at the end of 2020.

On a serious note, Nuclear Power itself doesn't bother me, the new power stations are very safe and reliable, generally speaking, what bothers me is Russia's involvement in building this power plants. They don't have a very good track record in safety as far as nuclear power plants are concerned.

Relevant: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_country

[Rabz]

Originally Posted by AsifTheManRahman
Yeah...and high speed internet.

Add to that,
Own satellite.
Subway in Dhaka.
2nd Padma Bridge/Tunnel.
Deep Sea Port.
3rd Sea Port at Barishal.

[Neel Here]

Blah, russian reactors have had a mostly problem-free run since chernobyl. they learnt the lessons just like the US did from 3 mile island incident. so it's wrong to say that they don't have a good record. currently the russians are some of the most advanced in the business and cost effective to boot. they are supplying reactors all over the world, more than any other country I think.
read here http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html#Exports

[Blah]

Originally Posted by Neel Here
Blah, russian reactors have had a mostly problem-free run since chernobyl. they learnt the lessons just like the US did from 3 mile island incident. so it's wrong to say that they don't have a good record. currently the russians are some of the most advanced in the business and cost effective to boot. they are supplying reactors all over the world, more than any other country I think.
read here http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html#Exports

As far as commercial civilian nuclear reactors out side home country is concerned, Russia is more involved than any other country, to the best of my knowledge, not necessarily because they are best at it (maybe they are but I don't know that), but because they are the cheapest solution out there. The same way most manufacturers prefers china because it is cheaper, not necessarily because the quality is good.

As far as safety and technologically advanced reactors are concerned, france has the best track record. But they are probably too expensive for us and they are mostly interested in nuclear power plants within their own country.

TBH, bangladesh probably doesn't have many other choices other than China and Russia, and since Russia has more experience in this field, they were the obvious choice.

Nuclear power plants are double edged swords, they are cost-effective, stable, cleaner solution to coal or other mineral based options but they also have much higher damage potential in both short and long-term; in the event of catastrophic accidents on a scale that can't be contained or controlled BD will get screwed big time. So we need an extra layer of caution, skepticism and scrutiny for a country with a high population density like bangladesh. If something goes wrong we can't just cordon off a large area and move to somewhere else, because there is no where else to go.

If something happens in Russia or China or USA, they can say "oops" and move to somewhere else, we can't do that.

[Neel Here]

your points are very valid, especially since low pop density places would be hard to find in BD, so it pays to be extra careful. that said, I think nuclear power generation technology and practices have matured to a point where the risk of loss of life has really come down.
modern reactors are built in a way where any major accidents in the control chain would lead to an an automatic poisoning of the reactor chamber. (poisoning means the emitted neutrons are absorbed preventing any further nuclear reactions)