nuclear-news

Declassifying all investigative data on the 1960s-era disappearance of weapon-grade uranium from a Pennsylvania atomic plant could boost U.S. credibility in current nuclear negotiations, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials Victor Gilinsky and Roger Mattson argued in e-mail responses to questions from Global Security Newswire.

In an article published last week by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, they said public details have already cast suspicion on Israel, which also is widely believed to possess an unacknowledged atomic arsenal.

“We’ve lost a great deal of respect around the world on the subject of nonproliferation,” Gilinsky told GSN. Citing one example, the former NRC commissioner said Washington’s reluctance to openly discuss Israel’s nuclear activities has hampered the U.S. ability to overtly press its Middle Eastern ally to participate in a plannedconference on eliminating weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East.

“The president doesn’t even acknowledge that Israel has nuclear weapons, which means no one in the government can, either,” he told GSN. “Leveling on [this] affair, painful as it might be in the short run, would be a step toward what you might call a reality-based policy in this area.”

For disclosure to be likely, though, President Obama must “see it in his political benefit to do so,” Gilinsky wrote. “If he wanted to, he could do it at any time, but I am not holding my breath.”……http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/former-officials-seek-u-s-disclosure-on-alleged-israeli-nuclear-theft-20140421