Australian Government Warns WMD Terrorist Attack "Feasible"

 February 23, 2010 – Canberra, Australia. Terrorists have the potential to use a weapon of mass destruction in an attack on Australia, the government in Canberra said in a report released yesterday.  The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States "highlighted how creative and ruthless terrorist attack planning can be. The potential for terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons is of particular concern," according to the report, Securing Australia: Protecting Our Community. "We know that a small number of terrorists seek CBRN weapon capabilities and would use them if they could. While the risk is small, the consequences of any such attack would be devastating. The acquisition of a nuclear weapon is currently beyond terrorist capability though a crude, low-yield nuclear device is possible. An attack with a radiological dirty bomb, biological materials or industrial chemicals is feasible and could have a significant impact even if it only succeeded in generating widespread panic," the report said.

Obama Invites Singapore PM to Nuclear Summit

November 15, 2009 – Singapore. President Barack Obama on Sunday invited Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to the Global Nuclear Summit to be held in Washington, D.C. in March 2010.  Obama’s invitation to The Global Nuclear Summit recognizes Singapore’s key security role, US officials said. "Singapore serves as a critical trading hub in the region, and we commend Singapore's commitment to counter-proliferation efforts," National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said after talks between the two leaders.  Singapore was one of the first countries to sign on to the US Proliferation Security Initiative, aimed at halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction by closely monitoring international cargo passing through its ports.  Dating from 2003, the initiative now has the support of more than 90 countries, the US State Department says.  Singapore has one of the world's busiest sea ports and provides non-combat and reconstruction support to US-led military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as access for US forces including aircraft carriers. "As the first country in the region to sign on to the Proliferation Security Initiative, Singapore is working to expand the reach and membership of this important tool to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction," Hammer said.

IAEA Data Suggests Iran Has Tested Advanced Detonator

November 5, 2009 – London, U.K.  Today the London Guardian reported that a U.N. analysis of Iran's nuclear capabilities suggests the Middle Eastern state might have tested explosive elements of a "two-point implosion" technology that could be used in producing smaller nuclear warheads.  The design, which uses explosives to simultaneously compress two ends of a football-shaped fissile "pit," is "a more elegant" means of detonating a nuclear bomb than primitive triggers that can rely on dozens of compression points, said one diplomat with knowledge of the undisclosed International Atomic Energy Agency report.  If successfully incorporated, the technology would help produce warheads more easily fitted on missiles.  "It is breathtaking that Iran could be working on this sort of material," said one European official specializing in nuclear matters.  "It's remarkable that, before perfecting step one, they are going straight to step four or five," added James Acton, an nuclear analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "To start with more sophisticated designs speaks of [a] level of technical ambition that is surprising."  It is uncertain how Iran acquired the advanced implosion technology, a Western expert on Iran's nuclear program said.

Previous Attacks on Pakistan Nuclear Facilities Reported

October 15, 2009 – Washington, D.C. Today, the Homeland Security News Wire (HSNW), a Washington, D.C. daily news wire publisher, reported that there have been three previous terrorist attacks on Pakistan's Nuclear facilities. The HSNW reported, "Pakistan's nuclear facilities have already been attacked at least three times by Pakistan's home-grown extremists and terrorists in little reported incidents over the last two years, even as the world remains divided over the safety and security of the nuclear weapons in the troubled country. The incidents include an attack on the nuclear missile storage facility at Sargodha on 1 November 2007, an attack on Pakistan's nuclear airbase at Kamra by a suicide bomber on 10 December 2007, and perhaps most significantly, the 20 August 2008 attack when Pakistani Taliban suicide bombers blew up several entry points to one of the armament complexes at the Wah cantonment, considered one of Pakistan's main nuclear weapons assembly."

Iran Successfully Tests 1,250 Mile-Range Missiles

September 27, 2009 – Today, Iran successfully tested "upgraded" versions of Shahab 3 and Sajjil missiles. Both weapons are said to have ranges around 1,250 miles, a distance that would place Israel, Europe and some U.S. military targets within their reach. The missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads. The missile launches come on the heels of news that Iran has been secretly constructing a uranium enrichment plant on a military base southwest of Tehran. The size and location of the plant suggest that it has been developed to enrich weapons grade uranium. The facility will eventually house 3,000 enrichment centrifuges, roughly one-third the number installed at Iran's other known enrichment site at Natanz. Meanwhile, an organization of Iranian exiles accused Tehran of assembling nuclear-weapon detonators at two clandestine facilities: "Resistance sources have managed to uncover two centers that work directly on nuclear armaments and which were until now kept secret," said Mehdi Abrihamtchi, spokesman for the Paris-based group People's Mujahedeen. "They are places for research and production of detonation systems which is a major part of the mullahs' atomic bomb project.