Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

North Korea gets lowest grade on 'nuclear arms report card'

North Korea got a failing grade, with Iran and Syria not far behind, in the first nuclear arms control report card released Wednesday by the independent US-based Arms Control Association (ACA). "North Korea, which has violated nearly every non-proliferation and disarmament standard over the past two years, warrants an overall grade of 'F'," ACA executive director Daryl Kimball told reporters.
North Korea failed all but three of the 10 equally-weighted categories used to calculate the overall grade.
In the three areas that Pyongyang didn't fail -- reducing nuclear weapons alert levels, meeting multilateral nuclear security commitments, and honoring commitments to prevent nuclear terrorism and the trafficking of nuclear material -- it got a "D", one step up from failure.
Iran and Syria, which don't have nuclear arms but which are being investigated by international bodies for suspected nuclear weapons activities, failed to meet safeguard standards covering all nuclear activities, including peaceful ones, set by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
They also fell short on basic nuclear export controls, each earning a grade of "D."http://www.spacewar.com/reports/North_Korea_gets_lowest_grade_on_nuclear_arms_report_card_999.html

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