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Nuclear power and unstable Middle east regimes

Nuclear Power and Unstable Regimes  Council on Foreign Relations, Jonathon Pearl 23 May 11,  “………However, many of the same regimes that have signed some form of nuclear agreement with a foreign supplier (eg, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Bahrain) have already been toppled or face serious domestic threats to regime survival. Other states in the region such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which are relatively more stable, have witnessed their share of domestic protests and are increasingly concerned about their future.

Partly as a result of these developments and Japan’s Fukushima disaster, Washington’s push to sign cooperation agreements with and win billion-dollar nuclear contracts from MENA states appears to be on hold. It is unclear whether other nuclear-supplier states will follow suit, however, as well as whether any pause in activity will be accompanied by reflection over how to protect against similar risks associated with any future domestic chaos. Yet both steps are critical for strengthening nuclear security.

During times of domestic upheaval or war, elements of national infrastructure–from oil wells to office buildings–often become prime targets for sabotage or theft. Major nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants, may one day become the targets of such actions. If nuclear facilities are sabotaged in some future conflict, clouds of burning oil could be replaced by highly radioactive plumes that contaminate civilian population centers and their water and food supplies.

Similarly, if major nuclear facilities are overrun in the midst of domestic chaos, the materials they house could be stolen and sold to criminal elements, thus increasing the threat of radiological or nuclear terrorism. This latter threat of theft is a major concern today with respect to Pakistan, and has been a motivating force behind nearly twenty years of U.S. efforts to secure nuclear materials and facilities in the former Soviet Union…..

Revolutions are rarely followed by order, and the absence of order presents a grave threat to nuclear security. Yet there are no U.S. or international contingency plans to respond to potential threats to major nuclear facilities during times of chaotic political transition. The Obama administration can take three steps to greatly strengthen nuclear security in the region and globally.

First, Washington should seek the cooperation of other nuclear suppliers to expand the reported U.S. moratorium on nuclear deal-making with MENA states to all suppliers. This moratorium should be continued until events in the region settle down,…..http://www.cfr.org/middle-east/nuclear-concerns-unstable-mideast/p25038

May 24, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, politics international