Daniel Pedersen

“It is the ‘appeasement policy’ going under the name of ‘Constructive Engagement’ practiced by ASEAN etc. That has been causing so much division among the Burmese freedom movement and encouraging the junta to take steps to realize its nuclear ambition. ASEAN countries are not the only ones which have been practicing the appeasement policy. Perhaps, in the hope of coaxing the regime to democratic transition, former governments of Japan and still some EU countries like Germany, France, Netherland, Belgium, Denmark etc. have been doing the same. As Burmese dictatorship was a client of the West during Cold War period, the said countries perhaps assume that the dictators could be made to see the light gradually, with their appeasement and collaboration policy. The operative word here is ‘gradually’.

The dictators are not afraid of anyone. They are ready to die for power and they will cling to it, by all means, unless they are forced to part with it. Daw Suu was wrong to assume that it was fear that had made the junta to be corrupt and cling to power. It is power that corrupts the junta. It is true that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The junta’s real agenda is to set up a military empire like those of the feudal days of Burma, before the British occupation of the country.

One very negative view we have to eliminate is that the junta cannot be overthrown. It can be overthrown with people’s power movement, real international pressure and armed resistance. In an absolute dictatorship like that of the SPDC, there are contradictions within the system itself. It is vital that the Burmese freedom movement should employ a strategy to magnify those contradictions.”

KNU Vice President David Thackrabaw

If the report fails to load, go here

The Democratic Voice of Burma has been accumulating information about a nuclear program in Burma for years, but recently they have come across a source with truly extraordinary information.  He worked in special factories making prototype components for missile and nuclear programs.  Like the Israeli technician, Mordecai Vanunu, he has brought hundreds of color photographs of the activities inside these factories.  DVB has asked us to organize this information and analyze what it means.  The goal of this report is to report our findings to DVB in support of their documentary film on Al Jazeera.  We are also providing a great deal of raw data for the nonproliferation community to assess.

Burma is one of the world’s most repressive regimes.  It is ruled by a junta of generals who have been in power for decades.  These generals seem to have no political philosophy, such as socialism or fascism, only pure simple greed.  To remain in power they depend on a brutal secret police and suspension of most human rights.  With the passage of time they seek more ways to hang onto power as their wealth grows ever larger and the dissatisfaction of the population threatens to oust them.

There are many signs that Burma looks to maintain power by having military power that would make foreign intervention very painful for an aggressor.  The power may not be necessarily aimed at aggression by Burma on its neighbors; rather it is a defensive power that signals its neighbors to leave them alone.  The model for this is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, DPRK, commonly known as North Korea.  North Korea is too poor to threaten anyone except its immediate neighbors but its possession of nuclear weapons inhibits any outside intervention in its repressive regime.

There are many reports of a nuclear program in Burma.(3)  Most of them have been sketchy and in some cases technically incredible.  Now the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) has assembled a huge new body of information that confirms many sources that Burma is investigating nuclear technology.  The majority of the new information comes from one source, which is always a concern for credibility.  This source is an educated man, a former Burmese Army Major, Sai Thein Win (STW), who understands what he knows and separates his information into what he knows well and what is hearsay.  He has a good sense of the organization of Burma’s special military programs and is much more of an expert on their missile projects than he is on nuclear matters.  His information on nuclear program organization is impressive and it correlates well with information from other published and unpublished sources.  But the most important thing he has brought forth is hundreds of color photographs taken inside critical facilities in Burma.  Photographs could be faked, but there are so many and they are so consistent with other information and within themselves that they lead to a high degree of confidence that Burma is pursuing nuclear technology.  Our analysis leads to only one conclusion: this technology is only for nuclear weapons and not civilian use or nuclear power.

Background and Organization of a Program

There is very little doubt that Burma has a nuclear program.  It is headed by Dr. Ko Ko Oo who has attended meetings abroad and openly asserts his interest in nuclear matters.  This program has a small connection to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.  The ties to IAEA are in mostly in civil matters such as the use of isotopes in medicine and agriculture, but there are also training courses for Burmese scientists in nuclear technology.  Burma does not have any declared nuclear facilities and it claims to have little or no nuclear material.(4) This situation means that the IAEA does not conduct any inspections in Burma because both sides have agreed there is nothing to inspect.  The situation with IAEA will be explained in more detail later in this paper.

Currently Burma’s nuclear effort is managed by the Directorate of Defence Services Science and Technology Research Center (DDSSTRC).  This organization is located in May Myo, also called Pyin Oo Lwin at the Defense Services Technological Academy (DSTA).  It is a large complex for the education of military officers and for research.  It is primarily a headquarters site and probably does not conduct experimental research, at least with nuclear materials or explosives.

Figure 1.  Defense Services Technological Academy at Pyin Oo Lwin

The scientific side of the nuclear program is run by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), headed by Minister U Thang.  Beneath Thang is the Director General of MOST, Dr. Ko Ko Oo.  Dr. Ko Ko Oo is the most public face of MOST and its nuclear activities.  An example is an invitation to a June 2010 training course sponsored by IAEA where Dr. Ko Ko Oo is the addressee to choose participants from Burma.(5)  It is vital to note that Dr. Ko Ko Oo has also served as director of the Department of Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE), which is a front for military procurement activities.  It will become clear later in this report that DTVE has been purchasing equipment for the nuclear and missile programs.  There is also a Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in Burma.  The DTVE and DAE at one point shared an address, phone number and fax number according to an excellent and detailed report by Andrea Stricker of ISIS.(6)  In 2002 Dr. Ko Ko Oo gave his email address at DAE in his personal data at a conference.(7)

The DDSSTRC is responsible for a program, which according to sources, is charged with building a nuclear reactor, enriching uranium, and building a nuclear weapon.  It is clear that this is a very difficult task for Burma to successfully accomplish.  Much of what STW is providing suggests Burma has little chance of succeeding in its quest, but that does not change the fact that even trying to build a bomb is a serious violation of its international agreements.  It would also seem that the very act of trying to build nuclear weapons is a sign of desperation and fear, no matter how unlikely it is to succeed.

Thabeikkyin

Our assessment of multiple sources is that Burma is really developing nuclear technology, that it has built specialized equipment and facilities, and it has issued orders to a cadre to build a program.  The cadre in charge is known as the Number 1 Science and Technology Regiment at Thabeikkyin.(8)  It is colloquially referred to as the “Nuclear Battalion” and we will adopt that term as well.   Major General Sein Win and Lt.-Col. Win Ko have signed a document directing a special factory to produce a part for the No. (1) Scientific and Technology Regiment.

This document is important and will surface again when we look at equipment that is needed for the Nuclear Battalion.  There are many reported activities at Thabeikkyin.  Previous reports have associated it with mining or ore concentration.  This latest source goes further and describes it as a site where “dangerous” ore is brought and stored.  He also believes that the site is involved in trying to produce “yellowcake” but he is not sure what this material is or if they have been successful.

In Google Earth imagery we can see a small ore concentration plant and ore reserve about 7 miles east of the Irrawaddy at Thabeikkyin.  This is very close to the point he describes.  A group of buildings with one thickener and a tailings pond are visible.  There is a pile of ore nearby.  This could be a uranium ore concentration plant, consistent with multiple source reports of uranium mining in this general area.  The mine itself has not been found.

Figure 2.  A small ore concentration plant is visible at the location of Thabeikkyin given by the latest source.

STW visited Thabeikkyin on two occasions, in 2006 and 2007 and reported on the following points.  The first and most important is that the mission is to build a nuclear reactor and to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb.  There is considerable research work at the site devoted to this end.  It is not clear that either the reactor or enrichment plant would actually be built, possibly only designed here.

He did not visit the ore plant but he did visit laboratories in small buildings for a demonstration to General Mg Aye.  He saw two demonstrations of technology.  The first was a powerful laser, reportedly a carbon-monoxide (CO) laser that was used to burn a hole in a stick.  The beam was a small red spot.  One of his colleagues later confided to him that CO laser beams are invisible so the spot was not from that laser, but maybe a guide or pointing laser.  The audience of military offices was very impressed.

The top general in the country, Than Shwe attended a second demonstration on a subsequent visit:  a “control rod drive.”  This consisted of a microprocessor moving a control element up and down in a laboratory.  This sounds like an extremely simple task and not very impressive but again the military officers were pleased.  Sai, without prompting gave a technically credible explanation of how a control rod affects the criticality of a reactor by absorbing neutrons.  Otherwise we would not be so sure that the demonstration he saw had any nuclear application.

STW told us that Dr. Ni Lar Tin was the scientist who explained to the group how a control rod works.  A Dr. Daw(9) Nilar Tin is active and visible in the DAE and MOST.(10)

STW can give the names of a few researchers at Thabeikkyin.  Details of the technology are in a later section of this analysis.

The Factories

The Nuclear Battalion controls two important factories.  These factories are dedicated to making prototypes and special components for the missile and nuclear programs.

Number (1) Science and Technological Material Production Workshop will be abbreviated as “Factory 1” in this report.  It is located east of Pyin Oo Lwin (also known as Maymyo.)  It was purposely built for the military research programs.  Factory 1 has been more closely associated with the nuclear program than the missile program but has worked for both. It is also known by the name Naung Laing.

Figure 3.  Factory 1 is east of Pyin Oo Lwin

Factory 1 has been the subject of internet discussion in such forums as the Arms Control Wonk, where it was the subject of intense speculation as a reactor.(11)  DVB has many pictures of Factory 2 under construction that can be correlated to satellite imagery, as well as the exterior of Factory 1 after completion.  It is a certainty that this is a machine tool factory and not a reactor.(12)

Number (2) Science and Technological Material Production Workshop, “Factory 2,” is located near Myaing in the western part of Burma.  This factory is supposedly almost identical to Factory 1 but it is more tied to the Burmese missile program.  That program is allegedly planning to make prototype parts for SCUD liquid fueled missiles.  Burma has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with DPRK on producing SCUDs so it is not unreasonable to consider there is a link between Factory 2 and the DPRK MOU.

Figure 4.  Factory 2 near Myaing

Figure 5.  Factory 2 under construction in a photo provided by STW

The western world and DVB know a great deal about the equipment and capability inside these two buildings.  A great deal of the equipment in the buildings is large scale, precision, Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine tools.  These tools are largely of German and Swiss origin, along with some measuring equipment from Japan.

Figure 6.  Layout of Machine Tools in Factory 1 from a visitors’ orientation display

The companies which sold this equipment to Burma presumed it was being sold for educational or civilian purposes.  The customer for the purchase was the DTVE.  There was no derogatory information about DTVE at the time so the sale was allowed.  Nevertheless, the companies did not sell the latest and best 4 and 5 axis machine tools.  Instead they removed some of these capabilities.  To verify the end-use of the equipment, the German government sent an expert in machine tools along with diplomatic representatives to the factories.  The expert examined the tools and made a number of observations, most of which were incompatible with the claim that the factories were just university training centers:

• • The factories are far from any universities or students
• • There were no females working or studying
• • The equipment was extremely large for normal machinist training
• • No military personnel were observed(13)

There are multiple correlations between satellite imagery, end-user verification, and photos of equipment being installed by German technicians, and even photos of the expert and the diplomat during end-user verification inspections.  STW served one and one half years as an army major and deputy director in Factory 2 and then a few months in Factory 1 in the same capacity.

Figure 7.  Shipping crate for machine tool delivered to Factory 1 in the name of DTVE

He indicated that many of the German tools were unusable due to damage and poor maintenance.  Photos of equipment show rust, rat droppings and damaged hydraulic and electrical lines.

Figure 8.  Electrical discharge machine tool display for VIP visit

Training in Russia

STW has an interesting background, according to his interviews with us and with the DVB.  He received an engineering degree from the DSTA.  He joined the military and later was chosen to go to Moscow for additional training in missile technology in 2001.  He was in the first group of students going to Russia, a fact which has been widely reported in other sources.  Sai describes how he had to appear to be a civilian for this Russian training, and so he was given a false graduation certificate from Yangon University to show to the Russians.  He still has both Burmese certificates as well as a Russian certificate from the N. E. Bauman Institute, Moscow State Technical University (MSTU).  This is a respected Russian university where he studied many aspects of missile technology.  Upon return to Burma he was assigned to the Headquarters of DDSSTRC for a year.   He then was assigned to Factory 2, while it was under construction and worked primarily on missiles.  An example is that he programmed the CNC machines to make a prototype impeller designed at DDSSTRC; however, the impeller quality was unacceptable due to the limitations of the machine tool.

Figure 9.  The missile impeller as manufactured at Factory 2

Sai was part of a group which received missile training.  Another group, where he also had friends, was sent to Russia at the same time, circa 2001, for training in nuclear technology.  Many were trained at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute known by its Russian acronym, MIFI.  This university specializes in the nuclear side of technology, such as mathematics, physics, computer codes and theory.  At one time it was the primary training school for the Soviet nuclear weapons experts.  Other Burmese students went to the Mendeleev Moscow Chemical Engineering Institute.  This university trained the Burmese in chemical technologies related to activities such as the production of uranium compounds to be used in the nuclear fuel cycle.

After all of the students returned from Russia, STW lost direct contact with them, but he knew that the mechanical engineers with nuclear training went to Factory 1 and the ones with more specific nuclear training went to the Nuclear Battalion at Thabeikkyin.  There are still Burmese military students in Russia today.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle

All of the new information brought out in photographs pertains to chemical processing.  There are no pictures of nuclear bombs or reactors and only a tiny bit allegedly on Laser Isotope Separation (LIS).  The information is all related to the chemical side of the nuclear fuel cycle.  The technologies of interest are the following.

Step		Activity
1		Uranium Mining
2		Uranium Ore Concentration
3		Yellowcake Production
4		Uranium Oxides Production
5		Uranium Tetrafluoride Production (UF4)
6		Uranium Hexafluoride (UF6)
7		Enrichment
	Gas Centrifuges	Or	Molecular Laser Isotope Separation
8		Reduction of UF6 to UF4
9		Bomb reduction of UF4 with magnesium to uranium metal

Equipment Built at Factory 1 for the Nuclear Battalion

(Step numbers refer to the fuel cycle diagram above.)

Bomb Reactor (Step 9)

The bomb reactor is easy to recognize from its properties and from the fact that STW supplied a letter from the Nuclear Battalion to Factory 1 requesting a “bomb reactor.”  The bomb reactor was to be used by the “special substance production research department.”  This group is located at Technological workshop (5), whose location we do not know.

“Bomb Reactor” is an unfortunate pair of words in the nuclear context.  The object is not a “nuclear bomb” and it is not a “nuclear reactor.”  It is simply a very strong vessel to contain a violent chemical reaction.  Hence it is a bomb in its strength and shape, and a reactor for containing the reaction of UF4 and magnesium (or calcium) metal inside.  The term bomb reactor is synonymous with “bomb reduction vessel” or even “reduction vessel.”  This terminology is much less emotive.

Figure 10.  Original letter from the Nuclear Battalion directing Factory 1 to build a “Bomb Reactor”

Secret

[Stamp of No (1) Science and Technology Regiment

Ministry of Defence]

No (1) Science and Technology Regiment

Thabeikkyin

Letter no. 1003/99/research/ Oo 3

Date, 2010 February 4

To

Army Science and Technological Research Department

Subject: Requesting the continuation of supply for materials needed for research

1. 1. Request No (1) Science and Technological material production workshop to make Bomb Reactor needed for research material for the use of special substance production research department at technological workshop (5).
2. 2. Send and report the formation/prototype data of Bomb Reactor needed to be made, as in Appendix (A)

Lt-Col Win Ko

• - (Please) carry it out.
• - Calculate necessity

(Signed)

Chief of HQs (On behalf of)

(Signature)

Secret

Figure 11.  Translation of the Letter

Figure 12.  Sketch for building the bomb reactor

One thing that will jump out at the experienced reader is that there are no tolerances or materials listed on this sketch.  The source himself noted that the drawings from the Nuclear Battalion were very unprofessional.  This factors into our assessment that the Burmese nuclear program is quite primitive.

Figure 13.  Two bomb reactors, one used and one new

The finished bomb reactors are pictured side by side in this image from Factory 1.  One of the reactors has obviously been subjected to great heat and is discolored and paint has burned off as it would be if it had been used to reduce metal.  The other is new.  There is an image of the two vessels in a packing crate being received from the Nuclear Battalion, so for some reason an unused vessel is being returned with an older one.  STW did not see these vessels, only the photo, so he was not aware of any health and safety precautions. There are no safety precautions such as contamination control in any image of the factories that we have seen.

There is no information about ceramic crucibles, boosters, igniters or such things.  The factory simply built the items and shipped them elsewhere for use.  A rough estimate of the amount of metal that could be produced in this reactor is about 20 – 25 kg.  That would be criticality safe and could be used for natural or enriched metal.

Bomb reduction is done in other industries besides nuclear but it is relatively rare.  The technology was widely developed during the Manhattan project to make uranium metal for reactor fuel and for weapons in ton quantities.  A bomb reactor built by a special factory, subordinate to the Army Nuclear Battalion is a very good indicator of a nuclear program in the context of many other things.

Inert Atmosphere Glove Box (Step 9)

STW described the construction of a simple vacuum glove box produced at Factory 1.  The box was used to mix two materials together when one of them was highly susceptible to oxidation.  He describes evacuating the box and backfilling it with inert argon for the mixing to take place.  Our interpretation for this glove box is that it is used for mixing UF4 with magnesium metal for the bomb reduction to uranium metal.

Figure 14.  Inert Atmosphere glove box.  Vacuum pump is behind the man on the right.

Vacuum glove boxes are not an everyday item in industry.  This one is quite crude but STW’s description of it being used to mix readily oxidizing chemicals is certainly credible.  He also noted it would be cheaper to buy a glove box like this than it would be to make it.  Possibly this was because the project was classified.

Inconel Tube Fluoride Bed Reactor (Step 6)

Factory 1 put a lot of effort into building a “fluoride bed reactor”.  It is shown in the next figures.  STW did not know the materials that were used, but the photo was found on a CD in a file marked “Inconel.”

Inconel © is a nickel based alloy used in nuclear industry applications where fluorine or hydrogen fluoride (HF) is used in the process.  Fluorine is highly corrosive and destroys steels at high temperatures, such as in furnaces.  Inconel is also used in a variety of other applications ranging from the natural gas industry, to turbine blades and even Formula One racing car exhausts.  So the use of Inconel is not a unique signature of nuclear fuel cycle use.

The terminology used by this source, “fluoride bed reactor” does offer more clues.  It would seem that fluorine is involved and fluorine is a component of the nuclear fuel cycle and a very corrosive one.  UF6 can be produced by placing UF4 powder in a fluidized bed reactor and agitating it in a high temperature section by a stream of fluorine gas.  It is likely that the assembly shown in the figure is the entire fluidized bed reactor.  The can at the bottom collects solids that are not fluorinated and are not wanted in the product.  The size of this reactor suggests a prototype or pilot plant size.

Figure 15.  The “fluoride bed reactor” assembly. Note the Trumabend V-130 machine on the right and the Trumatic L 3030 laser cutting machine in the background and compare to Figure 6, the shop layout of Factory 1.

Figure 16.  Internal components of the “Fluoride Bed Reactor”

Figure 17.  Presumed Inconel tube with the section surrounded by the furnace in the previous figures

Tube Furnaces (Step 5)

STW had only seen drawings of these tubes but he believed that they were for the carbon monoxide (CO) laser at Thabeikkyin.  That is certainly a possibility but they appear more likely to be tube furnaces for the fluorination of solid uranium oxide powder to solid UF4powder.  They are certainly tubes that have been heated and there are metal “boats” for holding powder to be reacted.  Two have been subjected to heat and one appears to be new.  This would be step 5 in the fuel cycle diagram above.

Figure 18.  Two used tube furnaces and one new one

Nitrogen Tank with steel Collectors (Step 6)

An interesting item fabricated in Factory 1 is a “Steel Collectors and Nitrogen Container” (their terminology).  From its design it looks like an attempt to build a cold trap to catch UF6 gas on high surface area plates with very cold liquid nitrogen as the refrigerant.

Figure 19.  Possible cold trap assembly for collecting UF6 gas

Other equipment

Other items include a large mixer “Water Reduced Tank”, an “Automatic Autoclave Sterilizer”, and a “Burning Chamber”.  These are not particularly unique or part of the nuclear fuel cycle.  The burning chamber is shown in the next figure, only because it illustrates the crude workmanship of the items seen.

Figure 20.  This object, described only as a burning chamber is rather crude

Figure 21.  “Water Reduced Tank” which appears to be a simple mixer

Reports of a Nuclear Reactor

The open source literature is filled with reports of a nuclear reactor in Burma.  We are tempted to believe that this could be layman’s confusion over a nuclear program in general, because uninformed sources can be very loose with terminology.  One thing is clear, that many people have heard of a Russian plan to sell a reactor to Burma around 2001.  It is very clear that the reactor was never sold and it seems unlikely that Russia would do so today.  Russia’s ROSATOM did announce intent to sell a reactor to Burma in 2007, but this deal has not been consummated owing to financial and practical legal issues.(14)  An absolute condition for Russia to sell a 10 MW research reactor would be that Burma sign the “Additional Protocol” with IAEA.(15)  The Additional Protocol is a voluntary addendum to an existing safeguards agreement such as the standard INFCIRC type 153 agreement in force with Burma today.  The Additional Protocol provides the IAEA with greater rights to ask for details of existing declared facilities (there are none in Burma so far) and greater rights to probe into undeclared activities of the type we are alleging.  100 countries in the world have agreed to an Additional Protocol.(16)  Unfortunately, some critical ones, such as Syria, have not.  With the many open source claims that Burma has a covert nuclear program, this might not be the time they would agree to sign.  The Russians should not even consider selling a reactor to a state with weak and obsolete IAEA agreements.

In addition, a 10 MW nuclear reactor is a very small reactor, suited mainly for producing medical isotopes, conducting nuclear physics experiments, and training engineers and technicians in nuclear technology that could eventually be used to build a larger reactor.  A 10 MW reactor is a very poor source of plutonium and is of little interest in most countries inspected by the IAEA today.  It would be inspected and monitored on a routine basis and misuse would be difficult.

Therefore, reports that a reactor has been sold and that Burma is building a 10 MW reactor on its own seem far fetched and pointless.

What is of far greater concern is the possible tie to the DPRK.  Some sources, albeit not well-vetted, allege that DPRK technicians are helping to build a reactor in Burma.  This immediately brings to mind the 2007 bombing of a facility in Syria that allegedly was a DPRK designed plutonium production reactor.  This highlights the fact that DPRK is willing to build at least one reactor outside its own territory. Thus, any rumored activity in Burma should be taken seriously.  So far no sources have given adequate coordinates to locate a suspected nuclear reactor in Burma but this is a high priority item for more information.

Report of Laser Isotope Separation

The DVB source provided a great deal of information on a Laser Isotope Separation (LIS) program at the Nuclear Battalion.  From the outset we will readily agree with critics that a laser isotope separation program is far beyond the capabilities of Burma with its poor technical resources.  Nevertheless STW has a lot of details about the program, and if Burma chooses to spend its resources in this way it is heartening to those who wish them to fail.

Laser isotope separation has been a huge research program in many countries, such as the US, UK, France, Russia, Germany, South Africa, Australia and probably others.  None of these advanced industrial countries has succeeded in making significant amounts of enriched uranium at anything close to a competitive price.

There are two common approaches to Laser Isotope Separation.  This is an overly detailed topic for this paper and will be summarized.  STW had been clearly told that he was to make some precision nozzles for a supersonic carbon monoxide (CO) laser that would be used in the LIS process.  Carbon dioxide (CO2) and CO lasers are normally associated with the Molecular Laser Isotope Separation (MLIS) process.  This process uses UF6 as the chemical working substance, the same as centrifuge enrichment.  STW was asked to machine many prototype nozzles for the lasers, in batches of ten or so.  He remembers them because they were difficult to make and required electrical discharge machining, one of his special skills.  A sketch of a nozzle is seen in the next figure.  Note again that the sketch is not a proper engineering drawing, lacking tolerances other information.

Figure 22.  Sketch of a proposed nozzle made at Factory 1 allegedly for a supersonic CO laser

It is our view that the LIS process is far beyond the technical capabilities that we have seen elsewhere in Burma.  This technology proved too complex and expensive for several industrialized states.  It is common, however, in the developing world for scientists educated in universities in industrialized countries, to return home and sell high technology programs to government bureaucrats.  The explanation here is probably simply that some academics have foisted this project off on the government so they can do research and publish, knowing that they will not succeed in the programmatic aim.

Report of Gas Centrifuge Program

STW heard reports of a gas centrifuge program.  One of his colleagues who studied nuclear technology at MIFI in Moscow said that the Nuclear Battalion was working on centrifuges, and if a plant was built it would be near Taunggyi.  The prototypes were being made of plastic as far as he knew.  No further information was available on this topic.

As an aside, when STW was discussing his military training in the 1990s, he mentioned fiber composites.  He was aware of a military program to manufacture rocket bodies from some type of fiber.  His military instructor had told the students that the process was not reliable because the tubes “vibrated too much”.  He had no more information on this topic and he did not tie it to enrichment himself, only as an answer to what kind of materials might be used.

International Agreements

IAEA

Burma became a State Party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 1992.  It acquired rights and obligations under this Treaty.  The agreement is known as Information Circular 477 (INFCIRC/477).(17)  In particular, Burma signed a Small Quantities Protocol with the IAEA in 1995.  This stipulates that Burma has no nuclear facilities and only small quantities of nuclear materials.

Important nuclear facilities are defined by the IAEA as:(18)

A. Power reactors

B. Research Reactors and Critical Assemblies

C. Conversion Plants

D. Fuel Fabrication Plants

E.  Reprocessing Plants

F. Enrichment (isotope separation plants)

Nuclear materials are defined essentially as plutonium and uranium, including enriched uranium, uranium-233, and uranium source materials.(19)  The precise definitions are complex and are left to the interested reader.

Small quantities are defined as less than:

(a) One kilogram in total of special fissionable material, which may

consist of one of more of the following:

(i) Plutonium;

(ii) Uranium with an enrichment of 0.2 (20%) and above, taken

account of by multiplying its weight by its enrichment; and

(iii) Uranium with an enrichment below 0.2 (20%) and above

that of natural uranium, taken account of by multiplying its weight

by five times the square of its enrichment;

(b) Ten metric tons in total of natural uranium and depleted uranium

with an enrichment abo

www.bloomberg.com

Peter S Green

July 21, 2010

Allegations by a Myanmar defector that the military-run country is pursuing a nuclear program are corroborated by newly available commercial satellite images, Jane’s Intelligence Review said in an article released recently.

The photos of buildings and security fences near the country’s capital, Naypyidaw, confirm reports by Major Sai Thein Win of machine tool factories and other facilities alleged to be part of a nascent program to build nuclear weapons, the magazine reported from London.

“They will not make a bomb with the technology they currently possess or the intellectual capability,” Jane’s analyst Allison Puccioni said in an interview. “The two factors do make it possible to have a route to one.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern about reports that North Korea and Myanmar are expanding military ties and sharing nuclear technology at a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Thailand last year.

Clinton said the U.S. would remain “vigilant” against any military cooperation between the two countries. Yesterday, Clinton announced further sanctions against North Korea in an effort to halt the country’s nuclear-weapons program.

Sai said he worked at two factories involved in the nuclear program. His report to a Burmese opposition news website, Democratic Voice of Burma, based in Norway, included documents and color photographs of the interior of the installations.

The satellite imagery reviewed by Jane’s showed only the exterior of the buildings, Puccioni said.

‘Overly Ambitious’

Jane’s said Myanmar’s nuclear program is “overly ambitious with limited expertise,” in a statement yesterday. While Myanmar is a signatory to international agreements to control nuclear weapons use, it hasn’t agreed to more recent changes in the treaties and therefore isn’t subject to international inspections, the magazine said.

“With Myanmar’s current freedom from sanctions and relative economic prosperity, the junta may be able to outsource the technical know-how and tools to reach its goals far sooner than expected,” Christian Le Mière, editor of Jane’s Intelligence Review, said in a statement.

“Someone had to be assisting them, that’s the frightening thing,” said David Kay, a former United Nations weapons inspector and now a fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia, in an interview. “Myanmar is uniquely incapable of carrying this through.”

North Korea could be the country providing aid, said Michael J. Green, an adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former senior director for Asia on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

North Korea

During the Bush administration, North Korea discussed delivering short-range missiles and nuclear capability to Myanmar, Green said.

“We worry about the transfer of nuclear technology” and indications of clandestine military cooperation between two of Asia’s most secretive regimes, Clinton said last year. “I’m not saying it is happening, but we want to be prepared to stand against it.”

State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said on July 12 that the U.S. continues “to have concerns about Burma’s relationship with North Korea. It’s something that we watch very, very carefully and consistently.”

Last year, the U.S. Navy followed the Kang Nam I, a North Korean freighter headed in the direction of Myanmar with unknown cargo. The ship turned around and returned home.

The evidence points to a method of uranium enrichment, laser enrichment, that the North Koreans have never used, Kay said. “If it is laser enrichment the finger points more toward Chinese assistance or some place in the former Soviet Union,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Peter S. Green in New York at psgreen@bloomberg.net

Bloomberg

Critics charge unstable nation dealing with China, North Korea

WorldNetDaily

Michael Carl

July 16, 2010

U Aung, 53 years old, an Intha leg rowing fisherman holds his cone shaped net, used to catch fish March 2, 2007 on Inle Lake, Myanmar (Burma). The 22 kilometre long lake is also eleven kilometres wide.The fisherman of this region are famous for their leg rowing technique, standing on the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar.

According to the Intha this allows the fisherman to better see the many obstacles in the large lake, offering relief to their arms. The fisherman usually catch Nga-hpein, which is a type of carp, selling for about USD1.00 per fish. With economic sanctions crippling the Burmese economy its people are eager for change and a better life.

According to government experts who are working on a seven step road map to democracy, within the next few months the Draft Constitution will be finalized which will hopefully bring a Referendum for Constitution by the end of the year. After that a Democratic election will be held in 2008.

According to the current scenario the change may happen soon but many say that Burmese will be afraid to vote with their heart but will cast their vote to prevent trouble.

The military regime in Burma, marginally in control of a Buddhist-dominated nation that has been torn by clan and tribal strife for decades, apparently is trying to strengthen its position by attempting to buy weapons-grade uranium and nuclear technology from Asian and European nations.

Several experts have confirmed to WND the moves, and say they believe the efforts are to be a bargaining tool to pacify opposition in the upcoming October elections. Others say the power will be used against the West and other political opponents.

Vision Without Borders president Patrick Klein said Burma’s major technology source is the closed regime in North Korea.

“North Korea is helping them develop nuclear weapons,” Klein reported.

What do prominent U.S. leaders have in common with rogue tyrants? Read Jamie Glazov’s groundbreaking “United in Hate: The Left’s Romance With Tyranny and Terror”

Karen National Union Vice Chairman David Tharckabaw adds the program is farther along than just getting uranium from other countries.

“We had a report from the inside that they’re mining uranium to use in a nuclear reactor. They have a secret arrangement for building a nuclear reactor,” Tharckabaw explained.

“They’re sending out state callers to Russia, to Japan and to China to acquire expertise to nuclear weapons,” Tharckabaw added. “Germany has also been one of Burma’s contacts for technology.”

Listen to an interview with Tharckabaw:

The Karen leader agreed that North Korea also is one of the nations that is assisting Burma in its nuclear-weapons program.

“The technology will definitely lead to nuclear bomb production,” Tharckabaw added.

Klein reports that on two occasions within the past year, weapons shipments from one or more Asian countries have been intercepted.

“There was a ship heading from North Korea to Burma and the ship was full of arms. One of the U.S. warships followed that ship and the ship turned around and went back to North Korea,” Klein stated.

“There was another plane a couple of months later and it was flying through Bangkok. They found it was loaded with arms as well and, from what I understand, that plane was headed for Burma,” Klein continued.

“Burma is amassing arms and it looks like they’re working on getting a nuclear weapon if they can,” Klein said.

While Iran’s nuclear program has been grabbing the attention around the world in recent months, Klein said, in fact, there are two active nuclear programs in Burma.

“They have one that is a civilian program that is for research. They have one that is a secret one, for the military. Both are going on simultaneously,” Tharckabaw said.

The Karen leader adds that the nuclear weapon will be used as a “power tool” by the military dictatorship.

“The Burmese military is full of megalomaniacs and they want to use the weapons to build an empire. There have been three empires, and they see themselves as building the fourth Burmese Empire,” Tharckabaw further explained.

Human-rights lawyer and Burma analyst Scott Johnson agrees.

“While the (State Peace and Development Council regime) hasn’t explicitly written why it wants nukes, the most logical reason is that the regime like many military authoritarian governments wants to retain power. For decades they have been under threat for their appalling human-rights records – both from international condemnation and internal strife from a hostile population,” Johnson said.

The Australian-based lawyer adds that the regime uses deliberately heavy-handed tactics and is a copycat of another notorious Asian regime.

“The regime holds itself in power via a police state, bolstered by economic and military support from China (and others) and thus seeks the ultimate weapon, i.e., nuclear weapons, to ensure its survival. In this respect it is emulating North Korea,” he said.

Johnson adds that the Burmese junta needs China.

“China is Burma’s big brother and the natural-gas and oil pipelines will soon be connected through Burma to China. Thus, it’s safe to say that the regime wants nukes merely to bolster its image and ensure they are untouchable like North Korea and Iran,” Johnson added.

The Karen National Union leader believes that the nuclear project shows that Burma is trying to be like its authoritarian Asian neighbors.

“They want to imitate North Korea. North Korea is going ahead with its bomb-making and not worried about the democratic countries, like South Korea. They know that South Korea can’t react,” Tharckabaw said.

“The international community is trying to deal with it and North Korea is going ahead. Burma wants to be like that,” the Karen leader added.

The Karen leader says that the Burmese government is attempting to eliminate any political opposition from the outside and on the inside. Klein says that the Thai military is helping Burma in its effort to eliminate ethnic minorities.

“Some of the Thai generals are working with the Burmese generals. What we’re hearing is that they’re trying to wipe out a lot of Karen people. We’re hearing that with the elections coming in October, they’re trying to wipe out everyone who is opposed to the government,” Klein explained.

Klein adds that this collaboration has led to some major human-rights abuses on both sides of the border.

“My contacts are concerned that they’re going to try to kill the men in the villages, let the women and children flee to Thailand to the refugee camps, and then the Thai generals are going to force the women and children back into Burma to clear the minefields,” Klein said.

Klein adds that Thailand’s interest is financial.

“There’s a lot of lumber coming out of Burma into Thailand, a lot of drugs and a lot of gems. There’s a lot of money that needs to be made,” Klein continued.

Listen to an interview with Klein:

“One day when we were in the refugee camps, the Thai border police were there and they were threatening to send the kids back into Burma for $15 a head,” Klein observed.

David Tharckabaw agrees that financial arrangements are a part of the Burmese government’s dealings with their Asian neighbors.

Klein adds that he’s apprehensive about what happens between now and the October elections.

“I’m concerned that there may be a big slaughter before the election. The tribal people and the Burmese people too are against the military regime,” Klein warned.

Klein also says there are large armies from the Karens and the other tribes that are fighting against the government.

It’s a major concern of human-rights groups that the Burmese government is attempting to kill everyone who may oppose the military government.

Klein agrees with Tharckabaw that the Burmese government is trying to make the rest of the world believe that the military government is popular.

“The election is already cut-and-dried. The government has rigged the vote, and I think they’re going to try to make sure the vote comes out 75 percent in favor of the government,” Tharckabaw explained.

“The only thing anyone can do is boycott the vote. But it’s hard to boycott the vote,” Tharckabaw added.

Klein adds that the U.N. has been unwilling to take action against the Burmese military regime. He says that both Russia and China have used their vetoes in the U.N. Security Council to prevent any action from being taken.

WorldNetDaily Exclusive

ENDS