You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Southeast Asia
Myanmar says in “no position” to build atomic arms
2011-09-22
VIENNA: Myanmar does not have “enough economic strength” to develop nuclear weapons, a senior diplomat from the military-ruled country told the UN atomic agency on Wednesday, rejecting any such suspicions in the West.

Last year, a UN report suggested that North Korea might have supplied the southeast Asian state as well as Iran and Syria with banned atomic technology.
The Norks seem to be willing to supply anyone...
In 2009, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was concerned about the possible transfer of such technology to Myanmar from North Korea, which has left the nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) and tested two nuclear devices.

But Tin Win, Myanmar’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told its annual member state meeting: “Myanmar would like to restate that Myanmar is in no position to consider the production and use of nuclear weapons and does not have enough economic strength to do so.”
"But wait until we do," he added softly...
He told delegates that Myanmar in the past had “made arrangements” to carry out nuclear research with the help of Russia, but that this had been halted as the international community may “mistunderstand” the country over the issue. The aim of the research had been to ensure that it would “not lag behind other countries in that field and to improve the applications of nuclear technology in its education and health sectors.”

Myanmar has previously denied allegations by an exile group it was trying to develop atomic bombs and most analysts believe the isolated, impoverished nation remains well short of any goal to acquire nuclear capability.

But in January, Vienna-based diplomatic sources said the IAEA had written to Myanmar seeking information about its activities, suggesting it wanted to send inspectors there.
The IAEA: oh yeah, the same guys who said that Iran couldn't build and wasn't building a bomb...
A Norwegian-based exile group said in mid-2010 that Myanmar had a secret program dedicated to developing the means to make nuclear weapons, following up on similar allegations by defectors from the reclusive state.

The IAEA said at the time that it was looking into the report. Myanmar is a member of both the NPT and the IAEA.
Posted by:Steve White

00:00