
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990                   TAG: 9004180195
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

NUCLEAR POWER SLIPS THROUGH GAPS IN TREATIES, STUDY SAYS

Despite treaties intended to stop the spread of nuclear arms, at least seven nations have developed or expanded weapons programs by smuggling key components through glaring loopholes in international safeguards, a private research organization said Tuesday.

West Germany was cited for special criticism as "the weak link in this multilateral export control system" in the report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which also pointed to technology leaks in many industrialized nations.

Argentina, Brazil, India, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan and South Africa have exploited gaps in the safeguards, said the report written by Leonard Spector, a former chief counsel of the Senate Energy and Nuclear Proliferation subcommittee. Israel was omitted from the list because its nuclear weapons program was begun in the 1950s, predating the non-proliferation treaty.

None of the nations have confirmed that they have nuclear weapons programs, although Spector said there was little doubt that all of them are working on bomb programs. He said Iraq apparently is five to 10 years away from producing a usable weapon, while the others apparently either have weapons already or could produce them in the near future. He described Israel, India, Pakistan and South Africa as "de facto nuclear powers."

He said that in some cases, agents of the emerging nuclear powers "engaged in simple smuggling." At other times, he said, the nations "have seemingly complied with export licensing requirements, obtaining necessary export approvals" by persuading controllers that the equipment was needed for some non-weapons purpose.

The report said that businesses in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, China and Italy all were implicated in nuclear technology transfers. But it cited West Germany far more often than any of the others.

For instance, it said that last year investigators uncovered a Pakistani smuggling network involving the West German firm Neue Technologien GmbH, and a subsidiary that the company established to mask its participation. The companies provided such items as containers for uranium fuel and milling machines needed to form uranium into weapons components.

In addition, it said that a West German businessman, Alfred Hempel, provided nuclear material to India and Argentina. Hempel, who died last year, used companies in several other countries to avoid detection.

by CNB